2018 annual report of the cornell biologicalffield station · 2019. 9. 10. · collingsworth, annie...
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2018
ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
CORNELL BIOLOGICAL FIELD STATION
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Department of Natural Resources
Cornell Biological Field Station
at Shackelton Point
CORNELL BIOLOGICAL FIELD STATION
ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Director: Lars Rudstam Associate Director: Randy Jackson
Facilities Coordinator: Brian Young Station Manager: JoAnne Getchonis
Chair:
Pat Sullivan Chair and Professor, Department of Natural Resources
Cornell:
Katherine Bunting-Howarth Associate Director, New York Sea Grant Institute
Assistant Director, Cornell Cooperative Extension
Paul Curtis Associate Professor, Department of Natural Resources
Sarah Gould Senior Administrative Manager, Department of Natural Resources
Nelson Hairston Frank H. T. Rhodes Professor of Environmental Science,
Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
Amy McCune Senior Associate Dean, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at
Cornell University, and Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Peter Paradise Assistant Dean of Capital Projects and Facilities, College of Agriculture
and Life Sciences at Cornell University
Rebecca Schneider Extension Leader and Associate Professor, Department of Natural
Resources
Richard Stedman Professor, Department of Natural Resources; Leader, Cornell
Human Dimensions Research Unit
External:
John Farrell Director, Thousand Islands Biological Station, Associate Professor,
Department of Environmental and Forest Biology, SUNY College of
Environmental Science and Forestry at Syracuse
Brian Lantry Director, USGS Great Lakes Lake Ontario Unit.
Steve Hurst Fisheries Chief, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation
DIRECTOR’S CORNER 2018 – LARS RUDSTAM
Our Oneida Lake and Great Lakes research programs are thriving
including continuation of the long-term warmwater grant on Oneida
Lake fisheries and the Great Lakes National Program Office grant on
all five Great Lakes. We also completed a number of projects and
added a couple of new ones. We increased our technical staff (Patrick
Boynton, Jacob VanDeValk, and Sarah Schaefer), had a record
number of senior honors thesis students finishing (congratulations
Kayden, Audrey, Jackie, Iman, Sophie, and Shujuan), 11 summer
interns, started new graduate students (Taylor Brown, Joe Connolly)
and a new postdoc (Tom Evans), and welcomed a visiting scientist
(Cuicui Qi) to CBFS. Among all this activity, we also helped organize
two international conferences on large lakes: one in Irkutsk by the
shores of Lake Baikal, Russia, and one in Evian, by the shores of
Lake Geneva, France, and finished a special issue on Great Lakes in the Journal of Great Lakes Research.
More details below in our report on the 62nd
year of operations of the Cornell Biological Field Station at
Shackelton Point.
This year was a great year for recognition of CBFS science. Annie Scofield, with coauthors Watkins,
Weidel, Luckey and Rudstam, received the Chandler-Misener award of the International Association for
Great Lakes Research for the Best Paper in the Journal of Great Lakes Research. Her paper on the
deep chlorophyll layer in Lake Ontario showed the importance of this deep algae layer, its constituent
algae groups, and what triggers its formation in June and dissipation in September. Deep chlorophyll
layers needs to be considered when evaluating ecological changes in the Great Lakes. Tiffany Vidal, with
coauthors Irwin, Wagner, Rudstam, Jackson and Bence, received the Robert Kendall award of the
American Fisheries Society for the Best Paper in the Transactions of the American Fisheries Society.
Tiffany, a graduate student with Brian Irwin and now working in Massachusetts, analyzed the long-term
gillnet data on walleye in Oneida Lake and developed a new method to analyze data which allowed for
detection of perturbations in the data set using both means and variances. This paper shows the
importance of long-term data for understanding change and how to get the most of that data. Both papers
were published in 2017. It is the first time I have been part of receiving a best paper award in a journal. In
addition, two CBFS publications were selected for special compilations in 2018, John Forney’s 1974
article was included in the AFS book Foundations in Fisheries Science, and Brent Boscarino’s 2007
article was selected for ASLO compilations of influential papers about large lakes of the world. I also
want to congratulate Annie Scofield, who completed her PhD last summer and is now a postdoc at
Purdue, and James Watkins who was promoted to Senior Research Associate and became a full member
of the graduate faculty of Cornell’s Natural Resource field.
We had many visitors during the summer of 2018, including John Lyons from Madison, Wisconsin, Mike
Sierszen from Duluth, Minnesota, Bart DeStasio from Lawrence, Wisconsin, Sasha Karatayev and Lyuba
Burlakova from Buffalo, Rosaura Chapina from Burlington, Vermont, Kay vanDamme from Frankfurt,
Germany, Pat Hudson and Patty Armanio from Ann Arbor Michigan, Kelly Bowen, Sarah Bailey and
Marten Koops from Burlington Ontario (Canada), Yushun Chen from the Chinese Science Academy in
Wuhan, and participants in four workshops. Rebecca Schneider, Karim Kassam, Nelson Hairston,
Roxanne Razavi, and Paul Curtis continued working at the station. They brought in new Cornell students
to work at CBFS, Sol Lisboa with Rebecca and Leo Louis with Karim.
Thanks to all of you that contributed to another successful CBFS year.
A Karateyev, L Burlakova,
L Rudstam, E Hinchey-Malloy
CBFS STAFF AND STUDENTS
Senior Scientists
Lars Rudstam (Director, aquatic ecology)
Randy Jackson (Associate Director, fisheries)
James Watkins (Senior Research Associate,
Great Lakes program coordinator)
Administration and Buildings
JoAnne Getchonis (Station Manager,
Education/Outreach Coordinator)
Brian Young (Facilities Coordinator)
Pete Kite (Maintenance Mechanic)
Dustin Darnell (Director of Facilities,
Agriculture Experiment Station)
Research Support Specialists
Tom Brooking (Fisheries)
Kristen Holeck (Limnology, Great Lakes
ecology)
Tony VanDeValk (Fisheries)
Technicians Patrick Boynton (Great Lakes ecology)
Joe Connolly (Great Lakes ecology)
Gabriella Doud (Great Lakes ecology)
Christopher Hotaling (Limnology)
Christopher Marshall (Great Lakes ecology)
Sarah Schaeffer (Great Lakes ecology)
Jacob VanDeValk (Angler survey)
Beth Whitmore (Great Lakes ecology)
Education Coordinator
David White (New York Sea Grant)
Visiting Scientists/Postdocs
Cuicui Qi (visiting from Hefei City, Anhui
Province, China)
Thomas Evans (Postdoc, Great Lakes)
Professor Emeriti
John Forney (Fish ecology)
David Green (Fisheries)
Ed Mills (Limnology)
Cornell Graduate Students
Kalia Bistolas (PhD, Microbiology,
Hewson/Rudstam): Ecological effects of
amphipod viruses
Joe Connolly (MSc, Natural Resources,
Watkins/Rudstam): Zooplankton
Taylor Brown (MSc/PhD, Natural Resources,
Sethi/Rudstam): Cisco ecology in Lake
Ontario
Martin Feehan (PhD, Natural Resources, Curtis):
Wildlife management
Ellen George (PhD, Natural Resources,
Rudstam/Hare): Cisco ecology in the Great
Lakes
Toby Holda (PhD, Natural Resources,
Rudstam/Watkins): Ecology of Mysis
diluviana
Sol Lisboa (PhD, BEE, Walter/Schneider):
Groundwater-lake interactions
Leo Louis (MSc, Natural Resources, Kassam):
Ecological calendars
Matt Paufve (MSc, Natural Resources,
Sethi/Rudstam): Cisco rehabilitation
Lyndsie Schaffner (MSc, EEB, Hairston):
Clonal evolution in Daphnia
Annie Scofield (PhD, Natural Resources,
Rudstam): Great Lakes ecology (Completed
in 2018)
CBFS and Oneida/Great Lakes data are also
used by graduate students from other
universities, including Tiffany Vidal from
University of Georgia (with Brian Irwin),
Rosaura Chapina, Allison Hrycik and Brian
O’Malley from University of Vermont (with
Jason Stockwell), and Iman Pakzad from
SUNY-ESF (with Roxanne Razavi).
2018 Staff and Students
2018 CBFS INTERNS
Interns at CBFS during the summer of 2018 were involved in a number of
research projects addressing current ecological concerns. Funding for our
intern program in 2018 came from the Great Lakes National Program Office
grant, NYSDEC Warmwater grant, the John and Janet Forney Foundation,
and the Doris Duke Foundation. The interns presented their findings in
August as part of the CBFS Summer Seminar program at Shackelton Point
and in December at the Department of Natural Resources Undergraduate
Research Symposium. A special thanks to the intern advisors without whom
this program would not exist – in 2018 they were Tom Brooking, JoAnne
Getchonis, Kristen Holeck, Toby Holda, Chris Hotaling, Randy Jackson, Sol
Lisboa, Lars Rudstam, Tony VanDeValk, Jim Watkins, Paul Curtis, Rebecca
Schneider, and Karim Kassam.
Dominique Agnew, Class of 2021 (Research
Advisors: L Rudstam, K Holeck)
Major: Environmental and Sustainability
Sciences
Nearshore macrophyte survey in Oneida Lake
Allison Croak, Class of 2021 (Research
Advisors: J Watkins, T Holda)
Major: Biology
Using ponar videos to measure mysid densities
Jenna Diehl, Class of 2018-December
(Research Advisor: P Curtis)
Major: Biology, Pennsylvania State University
The common tern (Sterna hirundo) at Oneida
Lake
Iriel Edwards, Class of 2020 (Research
Advisors: R Jackson, K Kassam)
Major: Environmental and Sustainability
Sciences; Entomology
The contribution of country foods to food
security in the Oneida Lake watershed
Vivian Garcia, Class of 2020 (Research
Advisors: S Lisboa, R Schneider)
Major: Environmental and Sustainability
Sciences
Groundwater flow and benthic algae
Arjun Hausner, Class of 2020 (Research
Advisors: K Holeck, L Rudstam, C Hotaling)
Major: Earth and Atmospheric Sciences;
Environmental and Sustainability Sciences
The dynamics of Oneida Lake cyanobacteria:
understanding their source, behavior, and
nutrient limitations
Tram La, Class of 2021 (Research Advisors: J
Watkins, T Holda)
Major: Computer Science
Effect of net size and light on Mysis
diluviana catches in Ontario and the Finger
Lakes
Tia Offner, Class of 2020 (Research Advisors:
R Jackson, T Brooking)
Major: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Using underwater video to survey round goby,
Neogobius melanostomus, in Oneida Lake
Colton Poore, Class of 2020 (Research Advisor:
J Getchonis)
Major: Biology, English
The impact of algal blooms on shoreline
businesses, lakefront homeowners and
recreational lake visitors on a large inland lake
Emma Railey, Class of 2020 (Research
Advisors: L Rudstam, K Holeck)
Major: Environmental and Sustainability
Sciences
Dreissenid dynamics in Oneida and Onondaga
Lakes: inferences from nearshore to offshore
transects
Audrey Stanton, Class of 2018-December
(Research Advisor: J Getchonis)
Major: Environmental and Sustainability
Sciences
Long-term data set on Biological Field Station
undergraduate interns
COLLABORATORS
CBFS provides a center for ecological research on aquatic ecosystems, and strives to provide an exciting,
inviting, and collegial working and learning environment. CBFS faculty and staff collaborate with a large
number of investigators in the US, Canada, and other countries. Our collaborators are very important to
our program. The following individuals were involved in various aspects of the program (research,
teaching, extension, administration in 2018):
Cornell University: Department of Natural Resources: Paul Curtis,
Angela Fuller, Matt Hare, Karim Kassam ,
Steve Morreale, Rebecca Schneider, Suresh
Sethi , Patrick Sullivan
Department of Ecology and Environmental
Biology: Nelson Hairston, David Lodge, Amy
McCune, Paul Simonin, Lyndsie Schaffner
Department of Microbiology: Ian Hewson
Biological and Environmental Engineering:
Todd Walter
College of Veterinary Medicine: Rod Getchell
Cornell Cooperative Extension/ New York Sea
Grant: Kathy Bunting-Howarth, Helen
Domske, Jesse Lepak, David White
Mann Library: Erica Johns
SUNY Colleges and Universities:
SUNY College of Environmental Science and
Forestry: Greg Boyer, John Farrell, Karin
Limburg, Kim Schulz, Don Stewart, Roxanne
Razavi
SUNY Buffalo: Joe Atkinson
SUNY Buffalo State College: Lyuba Burlakova,
Alexander Karatayev, Susan Daniels, Knut
Mehler
SUNY- New Paltz: David Richardson
SUNY Brockport: Joe Makarewicz, Jacques
Rinchard
US Universities: Central Michigan University: Hunter Carrick
Hobart and William Smith College: Lisa
Cleckner
Hartford College: Bin Zhu
Florida State College: Christopher Perle
Miami University, Ohio: Craig Williamson,
Mike Vanni
Michigan State University: Pat Soranno, Jim
Bence
Lawrence University, Wisconsin: Bart DeStasio
The Ohio State University Stuart Ludsin,
Rebecca Dillon, Lyndsie Collis, Jim Hood
Purdue University: Thomas Höök, Paris
Collingsworth, Annie Scofield
University of Georgia: Brian Irwin, Tiffany
Vidal
University of Michigan: David Jude, Tom
Johengen, Hongyang Zhang
University of Minnesota Duluth: Euan Reavie,
Kitty Kennedy, Andrew Bramburger, Katya
Kovalenko
University of Notre Dame: Michael Pfrender
University of Vermont-Burlington: Donna
Parrish, Jason Stockwell, Allison Hrycik,
Brian O’Malley, Rosaura Chapini, Jonathan
Doubek
University of Wisconsin-Madison: Paul Hanson,
Corinna Gries, Sarah Collins
Cisco workshop participants
University of Wisconsin-Superior: Mary Balcer
Virginia Tech: Kelly Cobourn, Cayelan Carey,
Kevin Boyle, Michael Sorrice, Amy
Hetherington
Canadian Universities and Institutions: Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Canada:
Kelly Bowen, Warren Currie, Marten Koops,
Mohi Munawar
Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources: Tim
Johnson, Tom Stewart, Jeremy Holden, Jake
LaRose, Brent Metcalf
Ontario Ministry of the Environment: Todd
Howell
University of Windsor: Aaron Fisk
University of Guelph: Paul Hebert
International Universities and Institutions: Anhui Agricultural University, China: Xueying
Mei
Jinan University, China: Xiufeng Zhang
University of Western Australia: Matt Hipsey,
Louise Bruce
University of Stockholm, Sweden: Sture Hansson
Swedish Agriculture University: Rahmat
Naddafi
Mistra, Sweden: Biljana Macura
Umeå University, Sweden: Pär Byström
Belarus University:Boris Adamovich, Hanna
Zhukava, Tatayna Zhukova, Tamara
Mikheyeva
University of Bologna, Italy: Laura Airoldi
University of Groningen, Netherlands: Klemens
Eriksson
Technical University of Denmark: Josianne
Støttrup
Czech Academy of Sciences: Jan Kubecka,
Milan Riha
French National Institute for Agricultural
Research: Orlane Anneville
University of Geneva, Switzerland: Bas Ibelings
University of Konstanz, Germany: Dietmar
Straile
Fishereiforschung Lagenargen, Lake
Constance: Roland Rösch, Alexander
Brinkner, Ziga Ogorelec
EAWAG, Zurich, Switzerland: Piet Spaak, Linda
Hatliner
Senckenberg Research Institute, Frankfurt,
Germany: Kay Van Damme
Local, State and Federal Agencies:
NYS Canal Corporation: Peter Pazer
NYS DEC-Albany: Lisa Holst, Steve Hurst,
Shaun Keeler, Jeff Loukmas, Doug Stang,
Leslie Surprenant, Don Zelazny
NYS DEC-Region 8: Brad Hammers, Web
Pearsall, Matt Sanderson
NYS DEC-Region 7: Dan Bishop, David Lemon,
Scott Prindle
NYS DEC-Region 6: Doug Carlson, Frank Flack,
Roger Klindt, Russ McCullough, Michael
Wilkinson
NYS DEC-Lake Ontario Unit: Michael
Connerton, Jana Lantry, Steven LaPan, Chris
Legard
NYS DEC-Lake Erie Unit: Don Einhouse, James
Markham
NYS OPRHP - Central Region: Tom Hughes
EPA-Region 2: Fred Luckey
EPA-Duluth: Joel Hoffman, Anett Trebitz, Tom
Hollenhorst
EPA – GLNPO: Eric Osantowski, Todd
Nettesheim, Elizabeth Hinchey-Malloy, Lou
Bloome
NOAA-Great Lakes Laboratory: Doran Mason,
Ed Rutherford, Ashley Elgin, Hank
Vanderploeg
Michigan DNR: Jory Jonas, Pat O’Neill
Onondaga County: Chris Gandino, Janaki
Suryadevara
USFWS: Scott Schlueter, Curt Karboski, Zy
Biesinger, Dimitry Gorsky
USGS-Great Lakes Science Center, Ann Arbor,
MI: Bo Bunnell, Ed Roseman, Wendylee
Stott, David Warner, Yu-Chun Kao, Robin
DeBruyne, Patricia Armenio, Patrick Hudson
Jim Watkins
Vivian Garcia
USGS-Great Lakes Laboratory, Oswego, NY:
Brian Lantry, Brian Weidel, Brian O’Malley
USGS-Tunison, Cortland, NY: Jim McKenna
USGS-Great Lakes Science Center Erie: Patrick
Kocovsky
USGS – Great Lakes Science Center Superior:
Dan Yule
Vermont Fish and Wildlife: Bernie Pientka
Wisconsin DNR: Willie Fetzer, Zacharias Feiner
Non-Government Organizations and Private
Consulting Firms: CSRA: Richard Barbiero, Barry Lesht
Cooper Environmental: John Cooper
Ecologic: Elizabeth Moran
The Nature Conservancy: Darran Crabtree,
Mathew Levine, Matt Herbert
Upstate Freshwater Institute: Dave Matthews,
Dave O’Donnell, Sue O’Donnell, Feng Peng
LimnoTech, Michigan: John Lenters
Virginia Museum of Natural History: Jennifer
Reid
2018 CBFS SUMMER SEMINAR SERIES
Annie Scofield, PhD Candidate, Department of
Natural Resources, Cornell University
“Diving deeper: Drivers of chlorophyll and
plankton distributions in the Laurentian Great
Lakes”
Bart De Stasio, Professor, Biological Sciences,
Lawrence University
“Unexpected changes in the Green Bay, Lake
Michigan lower food web following biological
invasions and nutrient reductions”
Randy Jackson, Associate Director, Cornell
Biological Field Station, Department of Natural
Resources, Cornell University
“Oneida Lake as a melting pot: the impact of
invasive species on historic and modern
fisheries”
Mike Sierszen, Senior Scientist, EPA-Duluth.
“How large lake food webs are supposed to
work, I think”
Alexander Karatayev, Director and Professor,
Great Lakes Center, SUNY Buffalo State
“Can introduced species replace lost
biodiversity? A test with freshwater molluscs”
J Connolly, T Holda, C Marshall, L Rudstam,
J Watkins, B Whitmore, Cornell Biological
Field Station
“Great Lakes projects updates: speed talks
from CBFS staff and students”
John Lyons, Senior Scientist, Wisconsin
Department of Natural Resources; Adjunct
Professor University of Wisconsin Madison
“Projected changes in the distribution of stream
fishes in the Great Lakes Region in response to
climate change”
Roxanne Razavi, Assistant Professor,
Environmental and Forest Biology, SUNY ESF
“Effect of the Round Goby invasion on fish
mercury bioaccumulation in the Oneida
Lake food web”
2018 WORKSHOPS AT CBFS
Four workshops were organized by CBFS during 2018:
The workshop “Identifying Research Priorities for Cisco in Lake Ontario” was held on May 31 at
CBFS, organized by Ellen George, Matt Hare and Lars Rudstam from Cornell, Jesse Lepak from Sea
Grant, and Darran Crabtree from The Nature Conservancy. Over 30 attendees from a variety of state
and federal agencies, universities, and conservation organizations were present. The goals of the
workshop were to review the current knowledge of cisco ecology, summarize recently completed and
ongoing research efforts, and to identify key research priorities to support cisco restoration in Lake
Ontario. The outcomes of the workshop are presented in a summary report (George et al. 2018).
A workshop on the connection between lake productivity and fisheries production was organized by
Marten Koops (DFO) with Rudstam, Jackson and Watkins in November 2018. This workshop had
participants from Canada DFO and OMNRF, as well as NOAA-GLERL. Discussions centered on the
coupling between phosphorus loading and fisheries in the Great Lakes and includes Oneida Lake as one
of the main study lakes due to the long term data available from our lake. This workshop was part of the
Great Lakes Fisheries Commission funded project (Koops and others including Rudstam and Jackson)
described under research activities.
The barcoding and biomonitoring projects for the Great Lakes organized two workshops on zooplankton
taxonomy at CBFS. The first workshop focused on cladocerans on May 29-June 1, 2018 and was led by
global taxonomy expert Kay Van Damme of Senkenberg Institute. A second zooplankton taxonomy
workshop October 22-25, 2018 was led by Patrick Hudson of USGS-Ann Arbor and included our six
resident taxonomists, Heidi Schaefer from University of Wisconsin Superior, and Lyndsie Collis of Ohio
State University.
2018 CBFS PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
Oneida Lake and other Inland Lakes A major research program at CBFS is the Oneida Lake projects
involving two of CBFS’ senior scientists: Jackson concentrating on
fish and fisheries and Rudstam concentrating on lower trophic levels.
Paul Curtis continued his work on colonial waterbirds in the lake,
Rebecca Schneider studied ground water phosphorus input with a new
PhD student Sol Lisboa, Roxanne Razavi worked with mercury
contamination in sport fish as affected by round goby, Amy
Hetherington completed her work on mussel dynamics, and Karim
Kassam with graduate student Leo Louis worked on the ecological
calendar. The Oneida program involves the research staff Brooking,
VanDeValk, Holeck, and Hotaling, and summer interns. Oneida Lake
is a site member of the Global Lakes Ecological Observatory Network
(GLEON) and part of several research projects comparing data from
lakes across the world. Oneida Lake is also one of three lakes studied
in an NSF project in the Coupled Human and Natural Systems program
area (PIs Carrey, Cobourn and Boyle, Virginia Tech). The Oneida
Lake fisheries data was analyzed by research groups in the USGS Coop Unit in Georgia (Irwin), the
University of Pennsylvania (Wagner), USGS (Bunnell and Kao) and DFO Canada (Hossain and Koops).
In addition, Nelson Hairston and Lindsay Schaffner are wrapping up a study on rapid clonal evolution in
Daphnia. Work on other inland lakes include studies of alewife and zooplankton on Silver Lake, PA, and
on alewife, mussels, zooplankton and phytoplankton in Onondaga Lake.
Ongoing project: Long-term studies of Oneida Lake
Randy Jackson, Tom Brooking, Tony VanDeValk, Lars Rudstam, Kristen Holeck, Chris Hotaling, John
Forney (Funded by NYS DEC)
Our studies of the fisheries and limnology of Oneida Lake were initiated in the mid-1950s as an
assessment of the status of the lake’s important walleye and yellow perch fisheries. The program has
enjoyed continuous funding from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
(NYSDEC), and for over 40 years has included annual monitoring of multiple trophic levels and physical
conditions, representing a true ecosystem approach to understanding the dynamics of the lake’s fish
community and fisheries. Ongoing studies on Oneida Lake include detailed studies of walleye and yellow
Emma Railey, Audrey Stanton
and Chris Hotaling
perch from larval to adult life stages, assessment of
offshore and inshore fish community composition and
monitoring of nutrients, primary and secondary
production, as well as annual creel surveys. While
maintaining the continuous data set started by John
Forney, we have increased the scope of our studies,
which now include intensive sampling of the lake’s
nearshore fish community and annual creel surveys.
Oneida Lake is the State’s second most heavily fished
lake, and data collected by Field Station staff provide
timely information to DEC managers to ensure
sustainable fishing opportunities, particularly for
walleye, yellow perch and smallmouth bass. The data
series has also allowed important insights into the response of lake ecosystems to perturbations such as
exotic species and climate change. We have already documented fundamental shifts in fish community
composition resulting from increases in water clarity associated with zebra mussels, and are currently
assessing the impacts of displacement of zebra mussels by quagga mussels. The double-crested cormorant
had profound impacts on walleye and yellow perch, and our studies of these impacts have informed
cormorant management throughout their range. Analyses of the response of walleye and yellow perch to
cormorant management are shedding light on the relative importance of that management and concurrent
restrictions of walleye harvest. Warming water temperatures may be contributing to increased production
of largemouth and smallmouth bass, gizzard shad and other species near the northern extent of their
range. Sampling in 2014 revealed that the round goby has finally become established in the lake, although
densities were low. By late summer of 2015, gobies were the most abundant species in our trawl samples
and gobies continued to be abundant in 2016. There is evidence that there was a die off of round goby
during the winter of 2016-17, but enough remained to reproduce successfully and fall catches of young
goby in 2017 were comparable to previous years. Gobies continued to be common in many sampling
gears in 2018, though not at the abundances observed in 2016. Gobies appeared in the diets of most of
our more common fish species and were also foraged upon by cormorants. In 2018, we continued targeted
sampling of common predators to assess the importance of gobies in predator diets. Consistent with
evidence of reduced goby numbers, gobies were not as common in predator diets in 2018 as 2016, but
were still used by all sport fish. We observed marked declines in angler success in 2016, which is most
likely related to the abundant new prey resource represented by gobies, but angler catches improved in
2017 and 2018 when goby densities were reduced, further supporting the potential for gobies to affect
angler catch rates. We will have an excellent opportunity to continue assessing the impacts of this new
invasive on the lake’s fish and fisheries in the upcoming years. Walleye continue to be the most popular
sport fish in Oneida Lake. Bass are also a popular fishery, and almost 30% of the anglers interviewed
during our June/July creel survey were targeting bass, another sign of change from the days when walleye
anglers comprised most of the lake users. As Oneida Lake has changed, so too has the fish community
and the fishery, and our studies continue to expand our efforts to understand the dynamics of this
economically important resource.
Ongoing project: Common terns on Oneida Lake
Paul Curtis, Martin Feehan, Jenna Diehl (Funded by NYS DEC)
The long-term studies on the colonial waterbirds on Oneida Lake, initiated in the 1970s, continued during
2018. Investigators Paul Curtis and Martin Feehan worked with intern Jenna Diehl from Penn State
University to monitor the nesting activity of Common Terns on Little Island. Breeding success for
Common Terns at Oneida Lake was about average during the 2018 field season. The peak count was 369
tern nests on July 3rd
at Little Island. We banded 457 total chicks during the 2018 field season, and 22
banded chicks were later found dead, to give maximum chick survival rate of 95.2%. A total of 27 banded
Dominque Agnew and Vivian Garcia
adult terns were recaptured at their nests, ranging in age from 2-18 years
(mode = 6 years). Two foreign-banded terns were caught; one was originally
banded in Buffalo, New York, and the other Ogdensburg, New York.
Studies of nocturnal sleep behavior of incubating common terns occurred on
both Little Island (Oneida Lake), and Gull Island (Presqu’ile Provincial
Park, ON), to describe the sleep under different levels of predation. With no
observed predators on Little Island, preliminary analyses showed the terns
slept much more soundly than in Presqu’ile Provincial Park, where gulls and
herons share their nesting island. On Little Island, we again installed a gull-
exclusion wire grid, and removed 13 ring-billed gull nests, preserving the
nesting space only for common terns. This year we also completed a study
of tern migration to determine where birds nesting on Oneida Lake are
migrating and overwintering. We recaptured the last observed tern marked
with a geolocator (small tracking devices that record bird location using daylight sensors). A collaborative
manuscript describing tern migration was published in The Auk along with other northeastern avian
scientists.
Ongoing Project: Silver Lake
Jim Watkins, Beth Whitmore (Funded by the Rose Conservancy and the Actus Foundation)
In 2018 we expanded our limnological monitoring of Silver Lake in northern Pennsylvania to two other
regional lakes including Pops Hobby Lake and Tripp Lake. Monthly sampling tracked changes in
stratification, water clarity and chemistry, and phytoplankton/zooplankton populations. All three lakes
experienced blue-green algae blooms in late summer/fall.
Ongoing project: Food web changes in Onondaga Lake
Lars Rudstam, Chris Hotaling, Dave Matthews, Chris Gandino, Janaki Suryadevara (Funded by
Onondaga County, NY)
CBFS is involved with analysis of lower trophic levels, including phytoplankton, zooplankton and
dreissenid mussels in Onondaga Lake, a valuable resource for the city of Syracuse. We conduct a survey
of the alewife population each year- in 2018 this survey was in June and showed continued high alewife
abundance in the lake. The 2017 data was incorporated in the Ambient Management Plan report produced
by Onondaga County in cooperation with Upstate Freshwater Institute and CBFS. Gobies have increased
in the lake and mussel abundance, in particular quagga mussels, declined in 2017 and 2018. We are using
this data to investigate the relative importance of grazing by zooplankton and mussels in a stratified lake
to compare with the same interactions in Oneida Lake. We are also involved with overseeing the
sampling program through the Onondaga Lake Technical Advisory Board.
Ongoing Project: Ecological calendars to anticipate climate change
Karim-Aly Kassam, Madeline Rich, Tamar Law, Leo Louis, Adnan Akyuz (North Dakota State
University), Art DeGaetano, Christopher Dunn, Randy Jackson, Amanda Rodewald, Lars Rudstam,
Morgan Ruelle, David Wolfe (Funded by the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future, Academic Venture
Fund)
This project is developing ecological calendars as a means of building of anticipatory capacity for climate
change at the scale of community. Ecological calendars are systems to keep track of time based
observation of weather, plants, and animals. Seasonal events – such as the nascence of a flower, the
emergence of an insect, the arrival of a migratory bird, the movement of fish, or the breakup of lake ice –
may serve as more reliable indicators of seasonal change than counting of days based on the position of
the sun, moon, and stars. Indigenous and other place-based ecological knowledge of seasonal indicators
has enabled communities to coordinate their activities with the rest of their ecosystems. By integrating
Jenna Diehl
such knowledge with cutting-edge science, the project will develop ecological calendars that anticipate
trends and variability resulting from global climate change. This participatory action research project is
designed and implemented in partnership with fishing and farming communities in the Oneida Lake
Basin, as well as Dakota and Lakota First Nations in the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation of North and
South Dakota. During 2016, Tamar Law was based at CBFS and undertook semi-structured interviews. In
2017, Madeline Rich continued this work at CBFS. Ecological calendar research in Oneida Lake and
Standing Rock will serve as a proof of concept for similar projects in the rest of the world. In March
2016, the research team received an additional 1.2 million Euros from the Belmont Forum to conduct
further research on ecological calendars in the Pamir Mountains of Afghanistan, China, Kyrgyzstan, and
Tajikistan in collaboration with Chinese, German, and Italian scholars. In 2018 validation or research
findings was undertaken in each community in the Pamir Mountains and at Standing Rock. In 2019,
validation of research findings will be undertaken at Lake Oneida. Both projects will culminate in a high-
profile international conference focused on the role of ecological calendars in building anticipatory
capacity for anthropogenic climate change and variability.
New Project: Food Security
Karim-Aly Kassam, Randy Jackson, Iriel Edwards (Funded by CBFS Summer Fellowship)
This project grew out of the Ecological Calendars Project. In 2018, undergraduate intern, Iriel Edwards,
investigated how hunting, fishing, and foraging, create food security within communities in the Oneida
Lake watershed through sharing networks. She interviewed 20 local sportsmen and women, mushroom
foragers, and those involved in the donation or sale of country foods and products to better understand
why people partake in these activities and to what extent. In addition to the interviews, a subsistence
survey was distributed through local sportsmen clubs and outdoor groups to assess what wildlife foods are
eaten, at what time of the year, and how they are acquired. So far 96 responses have been received. The
survey demonstrates that people greatly use these activities to acquire food and a majority of participants
share the country food they acquire with their friends, family, and members of the community.
Ongoing Project: Daphnia eco-evolutionary process meets the clear water phase: seasonal plankton
dynamics when consumers evolve
Nelson Hairston, Lindsay Schaffner, Steve Ellner, Eliza Fairchild, Lars Rudstam (Cornell), Brooks Miner
(Ithaca College), Piet Spaak (EAWAG Switzerland), Luc De Meester, Lynn Govaert (KU Leuven,
Belgium)
The seasonal change in phytoplankton and Daphnia abundance is a classic pattern in the ecology of
temperate zone lakes. It includes a spring bloom dominated by edible diatoms, followed by an increase in
grazing Daphnia that terminates the bloom with a clear-water phase dominated by small rapidly-growing
phytoplankton, at the end of which the Daphnia population declines
and a summer bloom of cyanobacteria and colonial green algae
dominates. We show for Daphnia mendotae in Oneida Lake, New
York, that the Daphnia population responds evolutionarily to the
natural selection imposed by seasonal change in phytoplankton
quality. Genetically distinct clones (identified using microsatellite
DNA loci) rise to prominence at different times of year consistent
with their ability to grow on phytoplankton of different edibility.
Clonal performance was determined in the lab by measuring juvenile
(somatic) growth rate on “spring phytoplankton” comprised of
diatoms, cryptophytes and greens, and on “summer phytoplankton”
comprised of cyanobacteria and greens.” Clones that dominated in
spring grew much better on spring than on summer phytoplankton,
while the one that dominated in summer grew nearly equally well on
both food types. Calculations of clonal population growth rates show
seasonal changes in fitness differences, and projections of effects of
Arjun Hausner, Kristen
Holeck and Emma Railey
clonal evolution on total Daphnia population growth rate shows the importance of seasonal evolution on
lake plankton dynamics. The result is that classic seasonal plankton consumer-resource dynamics in this
lake are eco-evolutionary in nature: underlain by consumer evolution which affects those dynamics while
they are in progress. Future plans are to study differences in gene expression among clones when exposed
to different food types.
Ongoing Project: Coupled Natural and Human Systems CNHS: Linking land-use decision making,
water quality, and lake associations to understand human-natural feedbacks in lake catchments
Kelly Cobourn, Cayelan Carey, Kevin Boyle, Amy Hetherington (Virginia Tech) and others including
Lars Rudstam and Randy Jackson (Funded by the National Science Foundation (2016-2019);
administrated through Virginia Tech)
Freshwater lakes and their catchments present a rich and fascinating opportunity to examine the dynamics
of coupled natural and human systems (CNHS). To identify and quantify feedbacks between lake water
quality and human behavior, we are developing a novel, coupled modeling framework that captures how
land-use decision making interacts with hydrological and limnological processes to transform nutrient
loads into changes in lake water quality, and how altered water quality feeds back to human systems by
affecting the amenities that people value. Our coupled modeling framework will integrate key human and
natural systems in three focal lake catchments, allowing us to investigate human-natural feedbacks in
those catchments and to build on our understanding of those linkages to generate insight into CNHS at a
broad scale. Our interdisciplinary team of scientists and community partners seeks to comprehensively
investigate the flows, nature, and extent of linkages among human and natural systems in three focal lake
catchments, Oneida Lake, Lake Sunapee in New Hampshire and Lake Mendota in Wisconsin. Models of
lake dynamics, watershed nutrient influx, crop dynamics, economics of crop choice selection, property
price dependency on lake characteristics, and analysis of social interactions are proceeding and a
conceptual paper have been published in 2018.
New Project: Hg dynamics in fish around New York State following the invasion of round goby.
Suresh Sethi, Lisa Cleckner, Roxanne Razavi, Randy Jackson, Lars Rudstam (Funded by NY Water
Resources Institute)
The invasive fish round goby (Neogobious melanostomus) is rapidly expanding across New York inland
waterbodies and is rapidly moving towards the densely populated Hudson River system. After being
recorded in Lake Erie and Lake Ontario in the early 1990s, they have since spread through the Erie Canal
to Cross Lake, Onondaga Lake, Oneida Lake, Cayuga Lake, and possibly Seneca Lake (anecdotal
evidence). Where introduced, round goby quickly reach high biomass with densities of up to 70 fish/m2
observed in Cayuga Lake by 2016. As an abundant new ecosystem component, round goby enter the
foodweb and their impact on contaminants cycling has become an important management concern related
to fish consumption. As predators, round goby foraging behavior potentially exposes them to high
filter feeding invasive mussels. As prey, goby have
been recorded in stomachs of almost all resident
gamefish in invaded waterbodies. Presently, the
potential for goby to impact predatory gamefish
contaminant loads either through biomagnification, or
possibly through growth dilution, is not known. Here,
we seek to fill that knowledge gap by providing
information on both round goby and top predator
contaminant loads pre- and post-goby invasions.
Building from existing contaminants data hosted by the
NY State which provide a pre-goby baseline, our
objectives are to test round goby and predatory gamefish
contaminant loads, consuming benthic invertebrates a
for mercury and organochloride contaminants across a range of invaded systems at the invasion front. By
examining goby and predator contaminants pre and post invasion across a range of lakes with varying
environmental contaminant loads, we will be able to inform lake managers about anticipated contaminant
responses in gamefish, providing data needed to inform NY fish consumption advisories as the invader
moves across the landscape.
New Project: HABS disruption with sound and fish effects.
Lars Rudstam, Rod Getchell (Funded by New York State)
The purpose of this study is to gather the data necessary to determine if the use of ultrasonic algal control
devices in New York waters will cause unreasonable harm to resident fish species. Considering New
York invests millions of dollars annually to provide world class fishing opportunities to residents and
visitors, it is critical that we determine the impacts, if any, the statewide application of this technology
will have on recreational and ecologically important fish species. This project with Cornell will provide
the data necessary to determine if: (1) the frequency of the ultrasonic control devises results in harmful
histological and morphological effects on species of recreationally and ecologically important fish
species; and (2) The application of ultrasonic control devices elicits a behavioral response of
recreationally and ecologically important fish species.
Comparisons of Oneida Lake across North America
and the World Oneida Lake is known for the available long-term data. But it is only one
lake and we rely on comparisons of our data sets with lakes around the
nation and around the world to deduce general trends. Many of the projects
are through the Global Lakes Ecological Observatory Network (GLEON).
As a site member of GLEON, CBFS are partners in several projects that
benefit from comparative approaches to limnology and lake – watershed
interactions. Additional projects have developed through the interests of the
scientific community in the Oneida data independent of GLEON, examples
are the mussel project and the inland fish production project. Most of the
projects listed under this heading are administrated by other agencies or
universities than Cornell. They do provide important insights into the structure and function of lake
ecosystems and we are proud to be part of these internationally collaborative projects. We are pleased that
our many years of efforts on collecting long-term data on Oneida Lake are being used by others across the
globe. To facilitate these interactions, we have made 10 datasets available (walleye, yellow perch, gillnet
catches, trawl catches, limnology, phytoplankton, zooplankton, benthic invertebrates, ice cover,
dreissenid mussels) on the DataONE data archiving system and update these data sets each year.
New GLEON Project: Top-down versus Bottom-up controls on aquatic food webs Taylor Leach, Amber Rock, Annie Scofield, and other GLEON collaborators
This project aims to better understand the relative importance of top-down and bottom-up forces on
aquatic food web structure in lakes and ponds. We are in initial stages of the project and are in the process
of compiling data sources with data for three or more trophic levels over a 10-year period of monitoring.
We have the primary questions:
1) What is the relative importance of top-down vs. bottom-up control of food webs?
2) What lake characteristics explain patterns of top-down vs. bottom-up control?
We seek to improve our knowledge of the conditions under which, and at what trophic levels, we observe
differences in food web structuring processes.
Jake VanDeValk
Ongoing GLEON Project: Global evaluation of the impacts of storms on freshwater habitat and
structure of phytoplankton assemblages
Orlane Anneville (INRA, France), Bas Ibelings (University of Geneva, Switzerland), Jason Stockwell and
Jonathan Doubek (University of Vermont), Lars Rudstam and other GLEON collaborators
The GEISHA project relates the effects of physical disturbances and water column stability on plankton
communities. This project started in 2015 and received additional funding for 2016-2018 in both the US
and France to do comparative analysis of long term data series of phytoplankton, including Oneida Lake,
to better understand the effect of storms on phytoplankton community organization. Oneida Lake is one
of 8 lakes with the most detailed analysis possible and results were presented in France and Australia
meetings in 2018.
Ongoing GLEON Project: Importance of the timing of spring runoff to summer production in lakes
Allison Hrycik, Jason Stockwell (University of Vermont), Lars Rudstam and other GLEON collaborators
The research question tested in this project is “changes in the timing of spring runoff, specifically more
runoff occurring in the winter and early spring, will lead to reduced productivity and phytoplankton
biomass during the summer stratified period”. Data sets have been assembled, including one from Oneida
Lake. We expect the above might be true because nutrients delivered to a lake during colder deeply mixed
and possibly ice covered conditions could be less effective at stimulating phytoplankton growth. Results
were presented at the GLEON meeting in Australia in December 2018.
Ongoing Project: Evaluating effects of climate change and land use on fisheries production in
inland lakes Yu-Chun Kao, David Bunnell, Mark Rodgers (USGS), Lars Rudstam, Randy Jackson, and 24
collaborators across the globe (Funding from USGS)
We are evaluating effects of climate change and land use on inland fisheries by analyzing time series of
fisheries harvests in inland lakes across the globe. Tracking large-scale landscape changes (e.g., land use)
as well as annual changes (e.g., water levels that can drive recruitment and fishing access) on a lake-by-
lake basis can help inform how long-term trends may influence fisheries. One challenge of analyzing
longer time series on a relatively small number of inland lakes is the generality of these results to the
millions of inland lakes of the world. Hence, we confront this issue by categorizing lakes based on their
depth and vulnerability to food and water security. Previous studies have shown that lake depth is one of
the most important factors affecting fisheries production in response to climate change. For example,
decreases in lake levels caused by climate change may have strong effects on fisheries production in
shallow lakes, potentially via decreased access or littoral area, but not in deep lakes. In addition, regions
of the world can be grouped based on their vulnerability to food security and water security, which are
important indicators of anthropogenic stressors on lake ecosystems. Thus, land use and climate changes
should have disproportionally stronger effects on fisheries production in lakes in regions of higher levels
of food and/or water security threat, as these lakes commonly have been stressed by water deficit,
pollution, and overfishing.
Completed Project: Macrosystems Biology Research in US lakes across space and time
Pat Soranno (Michigan State), Sarah Collins, Emily Stanley (Univ Wisconsin), Lars Rudstam, Randy
Jackson and collaborators across the Northeast and Midwest US (Funding from National Science
Foundation to Michigan State)
The CSI Limnology research group has been busy building the LAGOS database, which currently
includes both limnological and geospatial information covering ~ 49,000 lakes in a 17-state extent in the
Northeastern and Midwestern United States. You can find more information about this group, its recent
research efforts, and LAGOS publications on our website (www.csilimnology.org). The database is
Stephanie Roh
described in LAGOS-NE: A multi-scaled geospatial and temporal database of lake ecological context and
water quality for thousands of U.S. lakes and published in GigaScience at the end of 2017. This concludes
the direct involvement by CBFS in this project.
Completed Project: Dreissenid mussel dynamics across systems
David Strayer (Cary Institute), Lars Rudstam and 15 collaborators from North America and Europe
David Strayer led a cross-system analysis of Dreissena population dynamics that was completed in 2018.
The analysis used all available dreissenid mussel data sets that were more than 10 years long, and Oneida
Lake is one of the most detailed of these data sets. The results show no evidence of declining mussel
abundance with years since invasions. There were also poor correlation between different age groups of
mussels (adults, new recruits, and veligers.). The analysis was submitted, revised and resubmitted to
Ecosphere in 2018.
The CBFS Great Lakes Program
In 2018, CBFS continued to develop our strong Great Lakes
research program. CBFS and Buffalo State continued to monitor
all five Great Lakes for zooplankton, benthos and chlorophyll,
funded by EPA. CBFS also continued a Great Lakes basin
research collaboration with the National Ocean and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) known as the
Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research (CIGLER).
CBFS participated in the Cooperative Science and Monitoring
Initiative (CSMI) efforts in Lake Ontario in 2018. A special
issue with 18 manuscripts on the GLNPO monitoring program
was published in the Journal of Great Lakes Research with Burlakova, Karatayev, Hinchey and Rudstam
as guest editors. The next special issue with CBFS contributions is on Lake Baikal, based on a meeting
on that lake in 2018. CBFS continued leading the Lake Ontario lower trophic level biomonitoring
program continuous since 1995 with NYDEC, USGS, and USFWS. We continue to work on two NY Sea
Grant projects in Lake Ontario - cisco genetics and tagging Chinook salmon, as well as on two USGS
projects on cisco restoration. A new partnership with researchers from Cornell, Buffalo State, Notre
Dame, and the U of Guelph is also underway to improve the library of genetic barcodes for Great Lake
invertebrates. As part of our reporting, we organized several special sessions at IAGLR 2018, two at the
European Large Lakes Symposium -IAGLR meeting in France, and were part of the scientific organizing
committee for the ELLS-IAGLR meeting and a meeting on large lakes in Irkutsk, Russia, both in
September 2018. Finally, we have three new projects underway, one on the coupling between fish
production and lake productivity (Koops et al. GLFC), one on mysid migration (Stockwell et al. GLFC),
and one on size spectra analysis (CIGLR).
Ongoing project: EPA GLNPO Great Lakes monitoring program
Lars Rudstam, Jim Watkins, Toby Holda, Annie Scofield, Joe Connolly, Chris Marshall, Gabriella Doud,
Beth Whitmore, Pat Boynton, Sarah Schaeffer(Cornell ), Alexander Karatayev, Lyubov Burlakova, Knut
Mehler, Susan Daniels (SUNY Buffalo State College ) (Funded by US EPA Region 5 Great Lakes
National Program Office, Chicago, IL)
In 2018, we continued with the second year of the second 5 year grant on monitoring all five Great Lakes
for chlorophyll, zooplankton, mysid shrimp, and benthos (Buffalo State). Benthos sampling now also
includes larger surveys in each of the lakes every five years associated with the Cooperative Science and
Monitoring Initiative. The US EPA monitors all five Great Lakes each April and August aboard their 180
ft. research vessel, the Lake Guardian. The ship has state of the art sampling equipment including a
Tram La, Sarah Schaefer
and Pat Boynton
Seabird CTD (equipped with sensors for temperature, dissolved oxygen, light, particles and chlorophyll)
and onboard laboratory facilities. They also have traditional nets and dredges for plankton and benthic
sampling. We explored advanced technology (i.e. hydroacoustics and Triaxus vehicle) in comparison with
our traditional measurements. These tools provide high-resolution measurements on horizontal and
vertical spatial scales. Zooplankton and mysid samples from these surveys are brought back to CBFS for
analysis by our four technicians in our microscopy laboratory. In addition to monitoring, research projects
in the grant include mysid biology (Cornell graduate student Toby Holda) and deep chlorophyll layers
(Cornell graduate student Annie Scofield). At Buffalo State, our collaborators Karatayev, Burlakova and
Mehler use video transect techniques to measure dreissenid mussel abundance. Improved detection of
invasive species is an important component of our program. In 2018, another exotic copepod
(Mesocyclops pehpeiensis) and cladoceran (Diaphanosoma fluviatile), new to the Great Lakes were
identified by Joseph Connolly and Elizabeth Whitmore in western Lake Erie. Western Lake Erie is the
main area with new species in the Great Lakes, which may be associated with warmer temperatures in
that basin. Much of the work on the first five year grant was published in 2018 as part of a special issue
on the program of the Great Lakes National Program Office in the Journal of Great Lakes Research.
Ongoing project: NOAA Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research (CIGLR)
Lars Rudstam as Cornell representative to the Council of Fellows for CIGLR
In 2017 CBFS and Cornell University entered a five-year research collective led by NOAA’s Great Lakes
Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Focused on the Great Lakes
Basin, this is one of sixteen regional NOAA collaborations nationwide. In addition to Cornell, eight other
academic partners from across the basin represent many of the leaders in Great Lake research. This
partnership provides CBFS and Cornell unique access to the expertise of agency scientists and the
capabilities of government laboratories and vessels, including state-of-the-art equipment. The cooperative
also offers funding opportunities to support speakers, post-doctorate researchers, and small research
grants. One CIGLR postdoctoral fellow at CBFS and Cornell (Thomas Evans) started working on a
project on size spectra analysis in 2018.
Ongoing Project: Genetic Barcoding of Great Lake invertebrates
Lars Rudstam, Jim Watkins, Joe Connolly, Chris Marshall, Beth Whitmore, David Lodge, Lindsay
Schaeffer, Nelson Hairston, Jr.(Cornell), Alexander Karatayev, Lyubov Burlakova, Susan Daniels (SUNY
Buffalo State College), Michael Pfrender (Notre Dame University), Paul Hebert (University of Guelph)
(three individual projects funded by US EPA Region 5 Great Lakes National Program Office, Chicago,
IL)
Genetic barcoding technology has become an important tool in the
early detection of invasive species, monitoring diversity, and dietary
analysis. However, the current extent of the barcode library for
invertebrates in the Great Lakes is very sparse, severely limiting the
usefulness of this technology. Effective barcodes depend on accurate
identifications, hence the need for a close coordination of
taxonomical confirmation and expertise with genetic approaches. The
essential goal of this project is to fill in barcodes for all Great Lakes
invertebrate species lacking at least 5 established barcodes in the
Barcode of Life Directory (BOLD), housed at the University of
Guelph. This effort will update what is known about Great Lakes
invertebrate biodiversity. Barcodes are short (600 base pairs) genetic
sequences, most commonly located as mitochondrial cytochrome
oxidase (COI), effective in separate species. This project is divided
up into three individual grants focusing on specific taxa, led by
Joe Connolly and
Sarah Schaefer
Buffalo State (benthic molluscs and oligochaete worms), Notre Dame (zooplankton and rotifers), and
Cornell (benthic arthropods). CBFS will lead taxonomic sorting of copepods, cladocerans, and rotifers
within the Notre Dame led project. In 2018, about three hundred individuals of a variety of crustacean
species have been identified, documented and sent to BOLD for barcoding. University of Guelph, home
of BOLD, is contracted to do the genetic analysis.
Ongoing Project: Tagging Chinook Salmon in Lake Ontario
Jim Watkins, Lars Rudstam (Cornell), Chris Perle (Florida State College), Jesse Lepak (NY Sea Grant),
Mike Connerton (NYS DEC) (Funded by New York Sea Grant)
Following up on initial research in 2017, ten additional Chinook Salmon were tagged with pop-off
satellite archival tags (PSATs) in the summer of 2018. Chinook Salmon provide an exciting and
economic recreational fishery in Lake Ontario. Chinooks in Lake Ontario are known to heavily depend on
alewife forage, but an understanding of specific depth and thermal habitats and predator behavior has
been elusive. CBFS scientists collaborated with a charter boat operation in Oswego with their extensive
acquired knowledge in collecting fish. Ten mature Chinooks were fitted with pop-off satellite archival
tags (PSATs) and released back to the lake to track over several months. These tags collect high
resolution data for depth, temperature, light, and acceleration, and upon programmed release, transmit
their position and data to satellites. In 2017, tagged fish were tracked to Cobourg Creek on the north shore
and the Salmon River, while in 2018 tagged fish travelled to the Niagara and Oswego Rivers as well as
the south and north shore. Tag data confirm a general affinity for cool (12-14 C) water temperatures that
generally represent the base of the thermocline. Due to the dynamic changes in water column structure,
this temperature can represent habitats as deep as 30 m and as shallow as the surface during upwelling.
Short term (10 minute) forays into warmer surface waters, presumably to hunt alewife, are timed in late
afternoon to sunset. During the day, salmon commonly took short term dives as deep as 100 m. This
detailed understanding of Chinook thermal preferences and hunting behavior improves bioenergetics
modelling of this important predator, and toward managing this stocked species in a setting with a high
interannual variability in the alewife forage base.
Ongoing Project: Mysis ecology in the Great Lakes
Toby Holda, Jim Watkins, Lars Rudstam, Patrick Sullivan
(Cornell University), Brian O’Malley, Brian Weidel
(USGS), David Jude (University of Michigan), Mary
Balcer (University of Wisconsin-Superior), Kelly Bowen
(DFO Canada), Jeremy Holden (OMNRF), Mike
Connerton (NYSDEC), (funded by GLNPO-EPA, Great
Lakes Research Consortium)
Mysids are an important native species in all the Great
Lakes. Understanding mysid ecology is an essential
component of understanding these systems as the species is
both a major predator on zooplankton and a major prey for
alewife, smelt and native coregonids. Even so, there are multiple questions about mysid ecology that
remain unanswered. In 2018, we published data on mysis time trends from 2006 to 2016 across the Great
Lakes (Jude et al.) and on production of mysids in Lake Ontario (Holda et al.). We continue our studies
on mysids at the biomonitoring of these animals concentrating on: 1) spatial patterns and population
demographics of Lake Michigan mysids in 2015, 2) temporal trends in mysids abundance in the Great
Lakes incorporating additional sampling with zooplankton nets, and 3) models of mysid population
dynamics to explore the limits to compensatory responses of the population, and 4) develop SOP for
mysid acoustics. In 2018, we also compared capture efficiency of different mysid and zooplankton nets
Pat Boynton and Jim Watkins
(Tram La intern project) and whether videos of bottoms could be used for assessing benthic mysids
(Allison Croak intern project).
On-going project: Lake Ontario and Lake Erie Biomonitoring Program
Kristen Holeck, Chris Hotaling, Lars Rudstam (Cornell University), Jana Lantry, Mike Connerton, Chris
Legard, and Steve Lapan , Russ McCullough, Dave Lemon, Web Pearsall and Jim Markham (NYSDEC),
Brian Lantry and Brian Weidel (USGS); and Zy Biesinger (USFWS). (Funded by NYSDEC)
Ecosystem-based management is an approach to managing environmental issues that considers how an
ecosystem functions as a whole rather than focusing on a single species or issue in isolation. In Lake
Ontario, managers have used an ecosystem-based approach to managing the productivity and availability
of alewife and stocked salmonids since the end of the 1980s. In support of this approach, the New York
State DEC initiated research in 1995 called the Lake Ontario Biomonitoring Program (BMP) to evaluate
the condition of lower trophic levels in offshore, nearshore, and embayment areas of Lake Ontario. Lower
trophic level components (nutrients, phytoplankton, and zooplankton) are indicators of ecosystem health
and determine the lake’s ability to support prey fish upon which both wild and stocked salmonids depend.
In 2016, this project was expanded to include zooplankton samples from the New York waters of Lake
Erie. The BMP is a collaborative project that, in 2019, included the NYDEC Cape Vincent Fisheries
Research Station (Lake Ontario), NYDEC Dunkirk Fisheries Research Station (Lake Erie), and regional
NYDEC staff at Watertown, Cortland, and Avon; the USFWS Lower Great Lakes Fish & Wildlife
Conservation Office; the USGS–Lake Ontario Biological Station; and Cornell University.
Ongoing Project: Biogeochemical and ecological impacts of amphipod circoviruses in benthic
habitats. Kalia Bistolas, Ian Hewson, Jim Watkins, Lars Rudstam (Funded by National Science Foundation)
Benthic amphipods are key indicators of ecosystem health in the Laurentian Great Lakes. Annual
monitoring programs depict progressive and precipitous declines in populations of the dominant
amphipod, Diporeia spp. in three of the four deep lakes between 1997 and 2018. The mechanism(s)
responsible for Diporeia population decline remain unknown. A previous study identified several putative
CRESS-DNA viruses associated with Diporeia. The current project corroborates these findings and
indicates that CRESS-DNA viruses are common constituents of Diporeia nanobiomes from both Great
Lakes and Finger Lakes populations. One previously identified viral genotype, LM29173, is prevalent and
recurrent among Lake Michigan and Lake Huron Diporeia. While this viral genotype is more abundant in
declining Diporeia populations, we found that the distribution of LM29173 is most closely associated
with amphipod haplotype demographics (irrespective of the state of population decline). Since little is
known about the role of CRESS-DNA viruses in mediating the ecology, physiology, or mortality of
crustaceans, we surveyed the viruses more broadly across crustacean taxa in 2018. This has revealed
many new viral types are present in crustaceans.
Ongoing Project: Development of descriptive indices for the
spawning and nursery habitat for Great Lakes cisco and their
application to areas targeted for restoration.
Matt Paufve, Suresh Sethi, Lars Rudstam (Cornell), Brian Lantry,
Brian Weidel (USGS), (Funded by USGS)
Cisco (Coregonus artedi) are a native fish species of conservation
concern in the Great Lakes, and are the subject of ongoing
management in Lake Ontario. Characteristics of suitable spawning
habitat for cisco are not well described and are needed for prioritizing
areas targeted for restoration activities. To inform restoration efforts Matt Paufve
in Lake Ontario and our general understanding of cisco spawning ecology we are studying spawning sites
of established populations in Lakes Superior, Michigan, and Ontario. Our objectives are to (1) define
quality habitat for cisco spawning and (2) make inferences about cisco spawning habitat selection and
spawning strategies in the Great Lakes. In 2018, we continued egg sampling and habitat measurements at
all three study sites, added additional surveys in Lake Ontario, submitted a manuscript describing the
results from a controlled experiment to examine the sampling efficiency of our sampling pump, and began
data collection and analysis to test if Coregonus sp. eggs can be identified by diameter. Analysis of data
from field sampling and for egg identification is currently ongoing.
Completion Report: Dynamics of the deep chlorophyll layer Annie Scofield, Jim Watkins, Kayden Nasworthy, Lars Rudstam (Cornell), Brian Weidel, Maureen Walsh
(USGS), Milan Riha (University of South Bohemia, Czech Rep) (funded by GLFC and EPA-GLNPO)
Deep chlorophyll layers (DCLs) are important features during thermal stratification in large oligotrophic
lakes. The presence of a DCL has been observed in all five of the North American Great Lakes, but its
ecological significance is not well understood. We collaborated with GLNPO researchers to understand
the importance of DCLs for lake production, zooplankton, and fish distributions. Three manuscripts were
published in the Journal of Great Lakes Research during 2017 (Watkins et al., Scofield et al., Riha et al.),
and additional manuscripts on long-term DCL trends and zooplankton diel vertical migration in Lake
Michigan are in preparation. Kayden Nasworthy completed additional experiments on Limnocalanus
predation on nauplii with and without algae present, and compared stable isotopes across the five Great
Lakes to better understand the trophic position and feeding habits of this important calanoid species.
Completion Report: Testing a metabarcoding approach to food web analysis: application to mysid
diets in Lake Ontario
Matt Hare, Lars Rudstam, Toby Holda (Funded by the Great Lakes Research Consortium)
Mysids are one of the major zooplankton predators in Lake Ontario and other Laurentian Great Lakes and
are consistently identified as a key component in food web models of these lakes. Mysids also feed on
phytoplankton and their role as predators depends on the relative importance of phytoplankton and
zooplankton in their diets. Quantifying diets of these animals and other omnivorous zooplankton is
therefore central to our understanding of food web dynamics in the Great Lakes, and by extension, the
ability of these lakes to support a sustainable fishery. We used universal eukaryotic primers directed at the
V4 region of 18S rRNA to amplify and sequence DNA from dissected gut contents of Mysis diluviana
from southeast Lake Ontario in July, August, and November 2016. A PNA oligonucleotide was designed
to block amplification of Mysis DNA but proved to be only weakly effective because Mysis sequence was
a dominant portion of the data obtained despite using dissected stomach contents for DNA extractions.
We are not able to exclude the possibility that Mysids were part of the diet. In addition to analyzing field
samples, we tested stomach contents of mysids experimentally fed different proportions of cyclopoids and
Daphnia. Rough agreement with low, medium, high expected quantities was found for each experimental
taxon, helping to optimize the bioinformatic pipeline applied to field samples. These results provide
proof-of-concept that metabarcoding can be used to efficiently characterize the diet of mysids, but
underscore the need for better databases to make the best use of the data because only 70% of known
Lake Ontario crustacean taxa were represented in DNA sequence databases.
Completion Report: Cisco Restoration in Lake Ontario Ellen George, Matt Hare, Rudstam, Darran Crabtree (TNC), Brian Lantry (USGS) (Funded by New York
Sea Grant with contributions from TNC, USGS and USFWS)
Cisco was once a commercially and ecologically important
fish in Lake Ontario, before declining in the late 1800’s and
early 1900’s due to overfishing, habitat degradation, and
impacts from invasive species. Currently, interest in
restoring cisco populations in Lake Ontario is growing, as it
forms an important part of the native food web and supports
native predators such as Atlantic salmon and lake trout.
Unfortunately little is known about the status of cisco in
Lake Ontario, as critical information such as the distribution
and number of spawning populations, the structure and
connectedness between these populations, and their level of
genetic diversity is unknown. This study aimed to address
several of these major knowledge gaps facing cisco restoration in Lake Ontario. First, we evaluated the
extent of cisco spawning in the eastern basin by sampling historical spawning sites and areas of suitable
habitat with egg collection mats. We were able to confirm cisco spawning in two previously unknown
locations; in Henderson Harbor and near Fox and Grenadier Islands. Second, we compared microsatellite
diversity of several aggregations of cisco in the eastern basin to assess population structure, genetic
diversity, potential legacy effects of a historical genetic bottleneck, and estimate the effective population
size (Ne) of the Lake Ontario cisco population. Finally, we developed a panel of three nuclear RFLP
markers to identify cisco-lake whitefish hybrids. The presence of remnant and/or expanded spawning
populations beyond the areas previously known is encouraging for the capacity of cisco populations to
recover in Lake Ontario. Lake Ontario cisco have not experienced a detectable genetic bottleneck despite
their numerical decline. Cisco genetic diversity is comparable to that found in lake whitefish, and a large
effective population size suggests that genetic drift is not currently a risk factor. We found a low rate of
hybridization in a sample of coregonine larvae from Chaumont Bay in 2014. However, the majority of
adult fish visually identified as possible hybrids were demonstrated with the RFLP marker panel to be a
mixture of F1 and backcrosses, suggesting that hybrids survive to adulthood and may reproduce.
Completion Report: Changes in nutrient status and energy flow through lower trophic levels:
implications for Great Lakes fishery management
Tom Stewart, Andy Todd (OMNRF), Brian Weidel, David Bunnell (USGS), Lars Rudstam (Cornell), Julie
Hinderer (GLFC) (Funded by Great Lakes Fisheries Commission)
The Great Lakes Fishery Commission (GLFC) Science Transfer Board commissioned a workshop
process to better understand and communicate relationships among lower trophic level change and fish
community and fisheries change in the Great Lakes. Through synthesis of published and unpublished
data, literature review, analysis and facilitated discussion among Great Lakes technical experts, a novel
conceptual model was developed. Syntheses of the literature and direct observations from Great Lakes
studies confirmed a strong positive relationship between the total fish biomass and total phosphorus
concentration. Variability around this relationship is high and several additional factors can modify the
total amount of fish biomass that can be sustained for a given concentration of phosphorus. Modifiers
interact and are expressed at the species, community, and food web level of organization. Modifiers
include traditional fisheries management activity such as stocking, managing predator-prey balance,
fishery regulation, and habitat protection and rehabilitation. Changes in water clarity influence fish
communities, fisheries and fish assessments, by changing the catchability of fish, their vulnerability to
predation, habitat, distribution and feeding behavior. In shallower waters, increased light penetration
induced by reduction in nutrients and dreissenid filtering caused a shift from turbid-phytoplankton
dominated system to a clear-macrophyte dominated system with associated shifts in fish community
structure. Additionally, food web structure modifies how efficiently, and among what fish species,
energy and material is transferred from lower trophic levels. An index of overall transfer efficiency for
the Great Lakes overtime, ranged from 3.4 -12.7% with an average of 8.9%. Primary production required
Curt Karboski and Ellen George
(PPR) is a food web metric that estimates the accumulated species-group life-cycle acquisition of primary
and detrital production. For fully described Great Lakes food webs, PPR is a strong predictor of species-
specific biomass. The conceptual model represents testable hypotheses supported by observations
informed by expert opinion. Literature, data trends, expert discussions, and preliminary model concepts
are detailed in an appended workshop proceedings. A mock-up fact sheet for Lake Huron was developed
using the conceptual model as a guide.
Completion Report: What is the impact on fish recruitment of anthropogenic physical and
structural habitat change in shallow nearshore areas in temperate systems? A systematic review
protocol
Pär Byström (Umeå University), Biljana Macura (Mistra, Sweden), Laura Airoldi (University of Bologna,
Italy), Britas Klemens Eriksson (Groningen University, Netherlands), Lars Rudstam (Cornell), Josianne
Støttrup (Technology University, Denmark). (Funded by Mistra, Sweden)
Background: Shallow nearshore marine ecosystems are changing at an increasing rate due to a range of
human activities such as urbanization and commercial development. The growing numbers of
construction and other physical and structural alterations of the shoreline often take place in nursery and
spawning habitats of many fish and other aquatic species. Several coastal fish populations have seen
marked declines in abundance and diversity during the past two decades. A systematic review on the topic
was conducted but studies with sufficient rigor to use in a typical meta-analysis was surprisingly rare.
Relevant studies include small- and large-scale field studies in marine and brackish systems or large lakes
in temperate regions of the Northern and Southern hemispheres, and the 30+ studies of sufficient quality
was reviewed and presented in the final report that was completed and submitted in 2018. Because studies
were few given the variability in both the anthropogenic structures and the fish communities studied, it
was not possible to give a general answer to the question asked. Increasing structure tended to increase
fish abundance as long as the anthropogenic structure did not replace natural complex habitat, in which
case there was no change. Some species of fish relying on sea grass beds were negatively affected.
New Project: Lake Ontario 2018 Cooperative Science and Monitoring Initiative (CSMI)
Jim Watkins, Toby Holda, Joe Connolly, Chris Marshall, Gabriella Doud, Beth Whitmore, Sarah
Schaefer, Pat Boynton, Allison Croak, Tram La, Audrey Stanton, Colton Poore (Funding from Great
Lakes Restoration Initiative – EPA&USGS)
The Cooperative Science and Monitoring Initiative (CSMI) is a five-year rotation of intensive sampling
efforts for each of the five Great Lakes specified within the binational Great Lakes Water Quality
Agreement. This increased focus enables higher spatial and temporal resolution of sampling than typical
annual surveys. 2018 was the year for intensive sampling of Lake Ontario. CBFS was funded by USGS
to collect and process lower food web (phytoplankton, zooplankton, and fish larvae) samples from five
cross lake transects. We collaborated with Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada and US EPA
MED in Duluth, MN. CBFS faculty, graduate, and undergraduate students participated in three surveys of
Lake Ontario on the R/V Lake Guardian in 2018, including water collection, zooplankton and mysid tows
and Triaxus and acoustic transects.
New Project: Cisco assessment in Lake Ontario
Suresh Sethi, Lars Rudstam, Taylor Brown (new MSc/PhD student), Brian
Weidel (USGS), (Funded by USGS)
Species restorations depend on assessments that can determine if population
change results from management actions or natural variability. Great Lakes
coregonid restoration actions are advancing rapidly, but are current assessments
adequate to determine what is driving coregonid populations? Designing
Taylor
Brown
unbiased surveys requires understanding a species’ seasonal and spatial dynamics and their availability to
sampling gear. We argue our current understanding of Great Lakes coregonid life history and habitat use
is hampered by contemporary surveys that are seasonally-discrete, inappropriate for target species (ex.
bottom trawls rarely catch Cisco), or miss critical habitats (embayments). Lake Ontario provides a unique
setting to evaluate coregonid habitat use dynamics across time and space. As the smallest great lake,
whole-lake sampling is most practical. It includes the range of diverse deep and shallow-water habitats
used by the Great Lakes coregonids. Quantifying pelagic prey fish habitat dynamics across time and space
will provide complimentary, collaborative data for parallel projects on Lake Ontario: coregonid larval
spatial dynamics, nutrient dynamic modeling (fish as recyclers) and explaining piscivore behavior.
New Project: Spatial variability and drivers of Mysis partial diel vertical migration.
Jason Stockwell (U. Vermont), Brian O’Malley and Brian Weidel (USGS), Lars Rudstam (Cornell)
Funded by Great Lakes Fisheries Commission)
Diel vertical migration (DVM) is an important component of food web interactions and population
assessments in the Great Lakes. In the case of Mysis, a key prey species for Great Lakes fishes, the
population is assumed to undergo DVM and migrate into the pelagia at night. Consequently, Mysis
assessment protocols rely on nocturnal pelagic sampling. Mysis, however, exhibit partial DVM (PDVM)
– Mysis have been observed on the bottom at night in lakes Ontario, Superior, and elsewhere. The
proportion of Mysis populations which exhibits PDVM is unknown, as are the factors which cause some
individuals to remain benthic at night. Recent data from Lake Champlain challenge conventional
assumptions about Mysis DVM – a substantial portion of the population does not migrate and is thus
unavailable to pelagic gear. Furthermore, differences in body size and condition were evident between
migrant and non-migrant Mysis (e.g., larger individuals were benthic at night). If similar patterns exist in
the Great Lakes, where food web models indicate Mysis is a key player, then previous biomass estimates
based on pelagic sampling underestimate lake wide abundance. We propose to assess variability in
benthic-pelagic distributions of Mysis in Lake Ontario to test if PDVM is a ubiquitous behavior of Mysis
in this system, what PDVM may mean for population assessments and food web modeling, and what
mechanisms may be driving PDVM. If the night benthic component of Mysis populations is high, then a
re-evaluation of profundal food web structure/function and outcomes of management actions would be
necessary to include more realistic estimates of Mysis biomass and distribution. Moreover, if PDVM is
related to seasonal patterns in reproductive status, energy reserves, body sizes or environmental
conditions, then sampling protocols can be modified to account for these drivers of Mysis behavior when
determining lake-wide biomass estimates.
New Project: Using size spectra to assess production potential for fisheries in the Great Lakes.
Thomas Evans (new postdoc), Lars Rudstam, Jim Watkins, Doran Mason (NOAA), Zacharias Feiner
(Wisconsin DNR) (Funded by CIGLR – Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research)
Changes in the structure of community size spectra have been suggested to operate as indicators for
ecosystem change or function, but the necessary understanding of how the size structure of communities
respond to major ecological change to create useful predictions based on size spectra shifts is lacking.
This research will provide a mechanistic understanding of the effects of anthropogenic disturbance on size
spectra across a range of ecosystems. The opportunity to use the Great Lakes as a natural experiment
allow me to identify spatial heterogeneity in community size structure and its relationship to the
taxonomic composition and diversity in aquatic systems. In addition, freshwater size spectra are
relatively understudied compared to their marine counterparts. Identifying how size structure responds to
ecosystem remodeling, and evaluating the stability of size spectra following ecosystem change, could
improve the understanding of processes like niche construction, species coexistence, and the effects of
altered energy flows in food webs.
New Project: Implications of phosphorus reduction for sustainable Great Lakes fisheries.
Marten Koops (DFO), Monir Hossain (OMNRF), Ed Rutherford and Hongyang Zhang (NOAA), Lars
Rudstam, Randy Jackson (Cornell) (Funded by the Great Lakes Fisheries Commission)
The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA) has been successful in reducing total phosphorus
(TP) loadings, thereby initiating an oligotrophication process across the Great Lakes. Emerging evidence
suggests that the Great Lakes are experiencing both an ‘offshore desertification’, whereby low ambient
TP concentrations undermine pelagic ecosystem integrity, and in some nearshore areas, blooms of toxic
blue-green algae resulting from excess TP. TP is a determinant of ecosystem productivity related to
observed biomass at all trophic levels, and has been recognized as a predictor of fish biomass and
production for many decades. However, TP reductions have not occurred in isolation; a number of
anthropogenic stressors may have affected the energy dynamics that determine how TP is converted into
fish biomass. One important stressor is the invasion of dreissenid mussels that have engineered changes in
nutrient cycling and lake productivity, and have affected many components of the food web including the
production of fish. We propose to examine the phosphorus to fishes (P2F) relationship across multiple
systems in the Great Lakes basin to test the hypothesis that recent anthropogenic stressors have changed
Great Lakes energy dynamics reducing the efficiency of nutrient conversion to fish biomass. Across
systems, TP has also been related to species diversity, and different types of fish communities may
respond differentially to TP. Further, the altered biotic interactions associated with dreissenid-invaded
food webs will elicit distinct shifts in energy dynamics which may differentially decouple the P2F
relationship between pre and post-invasion periods. We will also test the hypothesis that the synergistic
effect of TP reduction and dreissenid invasion will vary across habitat types (a spatial effect) and biotic
communities (an interaction effect).
CBFS Outreach, Extension and Education Programs
On-going project: Lake Ontario and Oneida Lake Education Initiative
Getchonis, White, Rudstam (funded by the Shackelton Endowment, New York Sea Grant)
The 2018 Education Initiative had a primary focus on the Lake Ontario-Oneida Lake watershed
connection and the impacts of algal blooms on the Oneida Lake community. 2018 saw the redesign of the
Oneida Lake Travelling Educator Trunk (“Big Red Box”) to now include species and curriculum ideas
that are relevant to both Oneida Lake and Lake Ontario. Intern Audrey
Stanton worked with Getchonis and White to “rethink” and reorganize
these educational materials to include species and issues common to
both lakes. The trunks will be distributed to local school districts at an
open house for educators in early 2019.
A part of the Education Initiative is the outreach component. Summer
2018 saw a project that looked at the impact of algal blooms on
shoreline businesses, lakefront homeowners and recreational lake
visitors on Oneida Lake. Intern Colton Poore looked at what has been
reported in various media outlets regarding algal blooms and then
interviewed businesses, homeowners, and visitors to the lake to explore
their knowledge of and impacts that Oneida Lake algal blooms had.
Results from the survey still have to be formalized but many of the
respondents felt that current algal blooms are no worse now than in
years past. Respondents also indicated that news reports and social media exacerbated concerns about
algal blooms. Potential future project could compare news reports with actual lake bloom data.
Colton Poore and
Audrey Stanton
Dan Sinopoli and
Jenna Diehl
Once again, CBFS Interns worked with Getchonis and New York Sea Grant’s Dave White to promote
clean and safe boating at a community event. Children of all ages could try different approved life jackets
and were also introduced to the best means of preventing the spread of invasive species between
waterways.
On-going project: Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program.
Angela Fuller, Lars Rudstam, Kristen Holeck, Patrick Sullivan,
Martin Feehan (Cornell), Rena Borkhataria (University of Florida).
(Funded by the Doris Duke Foundation)
This grant from the Doris Duke Foundation provided stipends for 4
Cornell students interested in conservation and diversity. The
students are provided summer stipends for two summers, the first
with a research program (in 2018 all four students were at Shackelton
Point, see intern list), and the second summer with a conservation
organization. During the year, the scholars meet each second week
with a graduate student mentor (with Martine Feehan). They also
take a one credit class with leadership training and diversity issues in
the conservation field.
FACILITIES AND MAINTENANCE
A significant upgrade to the harbor at Shackelton Point occurred in 2018. The old wooden docks were
replaced with low maintenance aluminum ones. The slip resistant decking increases safety for those
accessing boats. Each section can be rolled in and out of place and attach
easily to each other. The poles have a mud pad attached to the bottom of
each. The pads sink into the harbor substrate allowing for stability without
having to pound the poles in by hand. Seasonal installation and removal is
now quicker, easier, and safer for the staff.
Replacement of aging roofs was an important priority in 2018. The
Cafeteria, Tower Apartment, and Library all had roof replacements and
new gutters installed. The asphalt shingled section of the Greenhouse roof
was also replaced. In addition to new roofs, improvements in venting and
the addition of water and ice barrier will help prevent ice damage
experienced in the past.
A new Ford Escape was purchased as a continuation of the effort to
replace aging vehicles at CBFS. It’s equipped with all-wheel drive and
provides a nice travel option for our Central New York winter weather.
GRANTS AND FUNDING
Funding for the various elements of the research program include the CBFS (Shackelton) Brown
endowment and a wide range of public and private agencies.
Completed in 2018:
Great Lakes Long-term Biological Monitoring
Program. US EPA – Great Lakes National
Program Office. (PI Rudstam, co-PIs Watkins,
Karatayev (Buffalo State), Burlakova (Buffalo
State); $3,850,000, 2012-2018)
FSML: New technology for measuring lower
trophic levels in lakes. National Science
Kristen Holeck , Arjun Hausner,
Vivian Garcia, Emma Railey
and Dominique Agnew
Foundation. (PI Rudstam, co-PIs Jackson and
Watkins; $318,000, 2015-2018)
Testing a meta-barcoding approach to food web
analysis: application to mysid diets in Lake
Ontario. Great Lakes Research Consortium.
(PI Hare, coPI Rudstam; $10,000, 2016-2018)
Vertical habitat of salmonids in Lake Ontario
using archival tags and hydrodynamic models.
New York Sea Grant (PI Watkins, co-PIs
Rudstam, Perle; $183,000, 2016-2019)
Identifying genetic and habitat limitations to cisco
restoration in Lake Ontario. New York Sea
Grant (PI Hare, co-PI Rudstam; $209,000,
2016-2019)
Understanding declining offshore productivity in
the Great Lakes. Great Lakes Fisheries
Commission. (PI Stewart, co-PI Rudstam,
$30,000, 2017-18)
Continuing in 2018:
Ecology and management of warm water fish
communities. NY DEC (PI Jackson, coPI
Rudstam; $1,800,000, 2015-2020)
Doris Duke Conservation Scholars. Doris Duke
Charitable Foundation. (PI Sullivan, coPI
Fuller, Rudstam; $90,000, 2014-2019)
Analysis of lower trophic levels in Onondaga
Lake. Onondaga County (PI Rudstam;
$50,000, 2015-2019)
Biogeochemical and ecological impacts of
amphipod circoviruses in benthic habitats.
National Science Foundation. (PI Hewson, co-
PI Rudstam; $620,000, 2014-2019)
Development of descriptive indices for the
spawning and nursery habitat for Great Lakes
Lake Herring and their application to areas
targeted for restoration. GLRI (PI Lantry, co-
PIs Sethi and Rudstam; $180,000, 2016-2019)
Biomonitoring of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie.
NY DEC (PI Rudstam; $120,000, 2017-2019)
Coupled Natural and Human Systems, CNH-L:
Linking land-use decision making, water
quality, and lake associations to understand
human-natural feedbacks in lake catchments.
National Science Foundation- administered by
Virginia Tech (PI Cobourn, co-PIs Carey,
Boyle, Duffy, Hanson; associated: Kemanian,
Klug, Soranno, Sorice, Rudstam, Vanni,
Weathers; $1,800,000, 2016-2019)
Great Lakes Long-term Biological Monitoring
Program. US EPA – Great Lakes National
Program Office (PI Rudstam, co-PIs Watkins,
Karatayev, Burlakova); $6,000,000, 2017-
2022)
DNA Barcoding in the Great Lakes –
Invertebrates. EPA Great Lakes National
Program Office. (PI Lodge, co-PI Rudstam and
others, $400,000, 2017-19)
DNA Barcoding in the Great Lakes –
Zooplankton. EPA Great Lakes National
Program Office. (PI Pfrender (Notre Dame),
co-PIs Rudstam,Watkins, $253,270 to CBFS,
2017-19)
Cooperative Institute of Great Lakes. (PI
Cardinale, University of Michigan, co-PI
Rudstam. Agreement of cooperation, 2017-22)
New initiatives in 2018
Cisco assessment in Lake Ontario. USGS (PI
Sethi, co-PIs Weidel, Rudstam, $100,000,
2018-2020)
Spatial variability and drivers of Mysis partial
diel vertical migration. GLFC (PI Stockwell,
co-PIs O’Malley, Weidel, Rudstam $120,000,
2018-2021)
Using size spectra to assess production potential
for fisheries in the Great Lakes. CIGLR. (PI
Rudstam, co-PI Mason, Watkins, Feiner,
$70,000, 208-2019)
Implications of phosphorus reduction for
sustainable Great Lakes fisheries, GLFC. (PI
Sol Lisboa
Koops, coPIs Hossain, Rutherford, Zhang,
Rudstam, Jackson, $200,000, 2018-2021)
Status of lower foodweb in Lake Ontario in
2018. CESU. (PI Watkins, co-PI Rudstam;
$120,000, 2018-2019)
PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS
PhD Thesis:
Anne Scofield, Ph.D. 2018. Natural Resources.
Thesis title: The ecological importance of deep
chlorophyll maxima in the Laurentian Great
Lakes.
BSc Honors Theses:
Sophie Hearn. 2018. ESS. Investigating blue-
green algae in Oneida Lake; methodological
strengths and weaknesses
Shujuan Chen 2018. ESS. Internal and external
phosphorus loading in Oneida Lake:
Implications for Oneida Lake algae blooms.
Kayden Naysworthy.2018. ESS. Feeding
ecology of calanoid copepod Limnocalanus
macrurus in the Great Lakes
Jaqueline Doerr 2018. ESS. The potential for
nutrient loading through groundwater seepage
in Oneida Lake, New York
Iman Pakzad. 2018. ESS. The effect of round
goby invasion on piscivory and growth rates of
young-of-year largemouth and smallmouth
bass in Oneida Lake
Audrey Stanton. 2018. ESS. Long-term Data Set
on Biological Field Station Undergraduate
Interns
Accepted and on-line “pre-prints” of journal
articles and book chapters:
Connolly, JK, JM Watkins, EK Hinchey, LG
Rudstam, JW Reid. 2019. The Asian cyclopoid
copepod Mesocyclops pehpeiensis Hu, 1943
reported from the western basin of Lake Erie.
Journal of Great Lakes Research (on line).
George, EM Social media at #Coregonid2017:
extending the reach of a small conference with
Twitter and Periscope. Archiv fur
Hydrobiologie. Accepted
George, EM, DL Crabtree, MP Hare, and LG
Rudstam Early life history of cisco and lake
whitefish in Chaumont Bay, Lake Ontario:
Distribution and lack of predation by alewife
and rainbow smelt. Archiv fur Hydrobiologie.
Accepted.
Hetherington, AL, LG Rudstam, RL Schneider,
KT Holeck, CW Hotaling, JE Cooper, JR
Jackson. 2019. Invader invaded: population
dynamics of zebra mussels (Dreissena
polymorpha) and quagga mussels (Dreissena
rostriformis bugensis) in polymictic Oneida
Lake, NY, U.S.A. (1992-2013). Biological
Invasions, DOI: 10.1007/s10530-10019-
01914-10530.
Simonin, PW, LG Rudstam, PJ Sullivan, DL
Parrish, B Pientka. 2019. Early mortality and
freshwater forage fish recruitment: nonnative
alewife and native rainbow smelt interactions
in Lake Champlain. Can J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. on
line.
Weidel BC, MJ Connerton, MG Walsh, JP
Holden, KT Holeck, and BF Lantry. 2018
accepted. Lake Ontario Deepwater Sculpin
recovery: an unexpected outcome of ecosystem
change. In From Catastrophe to
Recovery: Stories of Fishery Management
Success. Edited by Krueger CC, WW Taylor,
and S Youn. American Fisheries Society
Whitmore, EA, JK Connolly, K Van Damme,
JM Watkins, EK Hinchey, and LG Rudstam.
2018 submitted. First record of the Neotropical
cladoceran Diaphanosoma fluviatile in the
Great Lakes basin Bio-invasions Records
Allison Croak, Jenna Diehl, Colton Poore
Tia
Offner
Audrey
Stanton
Iriel
Edwards
Journal articles:
Barbiero, RP, BM Lesht, GJ Warren, LG
Rudstam, JM Watkins, ED Reavie, KE
Kovalenko, AY Karatayev.
2018. A
comparative examination of recent changes in
nutrients and lower food web structure in Lake
Michigan and Lake Huron. J. Great Lakes Res.
44:573-589.
Bracey, A, S Lisovski, D Moore, A McKellar, E
Craig, S Matteson, J Strand, C Pekarik, P
Curtis, G Niemi, F Cuthbert. 2018. Migratory
routes and wintering locations of declining
inland North American Common terns. The
Auk 135(3): 385-399.
Bruce, LC, MA Frassl, GB Arhonditsis, G Gal,
DP Hamilton, PC Hanson, AL Hetherington, J
M Melack, JS Read, K Rinke, A Rigosi, D
Trolle, L Winslow, R Adrian, AI Ayala, SA
Bocaniov, B Boehrer, C Boon, JD Brookes, T
Bueche, BD Busch, D Copetti, A Cortés, ED
Eyto, JA Elliott, N Gallina, Y Gilboa, N
Guyennon, L Huang, O Kerimoglu, JD
Lenters, S MacIntyre, V Makler-Picka, CG
McBride, S Moreira, D Özkundakci, M Pilotti,
FJ Rued, JA Rusak, NR Samal, M Schmid, T
Shatwell, C Snorthheim, F Soulignac, G
Valerio, L v d Linden, M Vetter, B Vinçon-
Leite, J Wang, M Weber, C Wickramaratne, RI
Woolway, H Yao, MR Hipsey. 2018. A multi-
lake comparative analysis of the General Lake
Model (GLM): Stress-testing across a global
observatory network. Environ. Model Software
102:274-291.
Burlakova, LE, EK Hinchey, AY Karatayev, LG
Rudstam. 2018. U.S. EPA Great Lakes
National Program Office monitoring of the
Laurentian Great Lakes: Insights from 40 years
of data collection. J. Great Lakes Res. 44:535-
538.
Cobourn, KM, CC Carey, KJ Boyle, C Duffy,
HA Dugan, KJ Farrell, L Fitchett, PC Hanson,
JA Hart, VR Henson, AL Hetherington, AR
Kemanian, LG Rudstam, L Shu, PA Soranno,
MG Sorice, J Stachelek, NK Ward, KC
Weathers, W Weng, Y Zhang. 2018. From
concept to practice to policy: modeling
coupled natural and human systems in lake
catchments. Ecosphere 9, e02209.
Connolly, JK, JM Watkins, CC Marshall, JM
Adams, LG Rudstam, LA Bledzki. 2018. Non-
indigenous rotifer Brachionus leydigii var.
tridentatus (Zernov, 1901) reported from the
Western basin of Lake Erie. J. Great Lakes
Res. 44:1123-1126.
Dornelas, M, LH Antao, F Moyes, AE Bates,
AE Magurran, and 264 co-authors including
KT Holeck and LG Rudstam. 2018. BioTIME:
A database of biodiversity time series for the
Anthropocene. Global Ecol. Biogeogr. 27:760-
786.
Evans, TM, R Naddafi, BC Weidel, BF Lantry,
MG Walsh, BT Boscarino, OE Johannsson,
LG Rudstam. 2018. Diet of Hemimysis
anomala in Lake Ontario: comparing stomach
content and stable isotopes analyses J. Great
Lakes Res 44:467-475.
George, E, D Crabtree, B Lantry, M Hare, LG
Rudstam. 2018. Comparison of genetic and
visual identification of cisco and lake whitefish
larvae from Chaumont Bay, Lake Ontario.
Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 75: 1329–1336.
Jackson, JR. 2018. Book review – Foundations
of fisheries science, edited by GG Sass and MS
Allen. Trans. Am. Fish. Soc. 147:415-416.
Jude, DJ, LG Rudstam, TJ Holda, JM Watkins,
PE Euclide, MD Balcer. 2018. Trends in Mysis
diluviana abundance in the Great Lakes 2006-
2016. J. Great Lakes Res. 44:590-599.
Kovalenko, KE, ED Reavie, RP Barbiero, LE
Burlakova, AY Karatayev, LG Rudstam, GJ
Warren, JM Watkins. 2018. Patterns of long-
term dynamics of aquatic communities and
Emma Railey and
Dominique Agnew
water quality parameters in the Great Lakes:
Are they synchronized? J. Great Lakes Res.
44:660-669.
Simonin, PW, LG Rudstam, DL Parrish, B.
Pientka, PJ Sullivan. 2018. Piscivore diet shifts
and trophic level change after alewife
establishment in Lake Champlain. Trans. Am.
Fish. Soc. 147:939–947.
Zhu, B, CC Ottaviani, R Naddafi, Z Dai, D Du.
2018. Invasive European frogbit (Hydrocharis
morsus-ranae L.) in North America: An
Updated Review 2003-2016. J. Plant Ecol.
11:17-25.
Chapters in NYSDEC’s Fish Sampling
Manual:
Brooking, TE, J Loukmas, JR Jackson, AJ
VanDeValk. 2018. Black bass and sunfish
sampling manual for lakes and ponds.
Brooking, TE, J Loukmas, JR Jackson, AJ
VanDeValk. 2018. Non-standard sampling
gears for bass and sunfish in lakes and ponds.
Brooking, TE, J Loukmas, JR Jackson, AJ
VanDeValk. 2018. Fisheries statistics guide.
Brooking, TE, J Loukmas, JR Jackson, AJ
VanDeValk. 2018. Biology of bass and sunfish
in NY waters: sampling considerations.
Brooking, TE, J Loukmas, JR Jackson, AJ
VanDeValk. 2018. Bass and sunfish
population metric data 1988-2017.
Special Issues/Sections of Journals:
Burlakova, LE, EK Hinchey, AY Karatayev, LG
Rudstam (editors). 2018. U.S. EPA Great
Lakes National Program Office monitoring of
the Laurentian Great Lakes: Insights from
40years of data collection. J. Great Lakes Res.
Volume 44 (4).
Research and technical reports:
Brooking, TE, JR Jackson, LG Rudstam, CW
Hotaling, KT Holeck. 2018. Submerged
aquatic vegetation survey of Oneida Lake
2016. New York DEC Reports.
Borkhataria, R, R Duffy, S Larkin, R Carthy, E
Hellgren, C Romagosa, W Mannan, D
Christiansen, M Bogan, S Bonar, K Vierling, C
Conway, M Quist, Z Leggett, L G Rudstam, A
Fuller. 2018. Progress report - Doris Duke
Conservation Scholars Program at the
University of Florida.
George, EM, MP Hare, LG Rudstam. 2018.
Identifying genetic and habitat limitations to
cisco restoration in Lake Ontario. Final Report
NYSG R/XG-23 to New York Sea Grant.
George, EM, DL. Crabtree, MP Hare, JM Lepak,
LG Rudstam. 2018. Identifying research
priorities for cisco in Lake Ontario: a
workshop summary report. Workshop held at
the Cornell Biological Field Station at
Shackelton Point, Bridgeport NY, May 2018. https://ecommons.cornell.edu/handle/1813/60807
Hare, M, LG Rudstam 2018. Testing a
metabarcoding approach to food web analysis:
application to mysid diets in Lake Ontario.
Final Report to the Great Lakes Research
Consortium.
Holeck, KT, LG Rudstam, C Hotaling, R
McCullough, D Lemon, W Pearsall, J Lantry,
M Connerton, C Legard, S LaPan, Z Biesinger,
B Lantry, B Weidel. 2018. 2017 Status of the
Lake Ontario lower trophic levels. NYSDEC
Lake Ontario Annual Report Section 16.
Hotaling, CW, LG Rudstam. 2018. Assessing
community structure of lower trophic levels in
Tia Offner
Onondaga Lake, New York in 2017. Report to
Onondaga County.
Jackson, JR, AJ VanDeValk, TE Brooking, KT
Holeck, CW Hotaling, LG Rudstam. 2018. The
Fisheries and Limnology of Oneida Lake 2017.
New York State Department of Environmental
Conservation, Albany, NY.
Markham, JL, KT Holeck. 2018. Lower trophic
level monitoring program, Section K in
NYSDEC 2018, Lake Erie 2017 Annual
Report. New York State Department of
Environmental Conservation, Albany, NY.
Rudstam, LG, CW Hotaling. 2018. Alewife
(Alosa pseudoharengus) abundance in
Onondaga Lake, 2017. Report to Onondaga
County.
Rudstam, LG, C Gandino. 2018. Zebra and
quagga mussels in Onondaga Lake, New York.
Report to Onondaga County.
Stewart, T, A Todd, BC Weidel, LG Rudstam, D
Bunnell, J Hinderer. 2018. Changes in nutrient
status and energy flow through lower trophic
levels: Implications for Great Lakes fishery
management. Project Completion Report to
the Great Lakes Fisheries Commission.
Upstate Freshwater Institute, Onondaga County
Department of Water Environment Protection,
Ecologic and L Rudstam. 2018. Onondaga
Lake ambient monitoring program. 2016
Annual Report. Onondaga County, NY.
Watkins, JM, LG Rudstam, C Perle, M
Connerton, J Lepak. 2018. Vertical habitat of
salmonids in Lake Ontario using archival tags
and hydrodynamic models. Final Report
NYSG R/FBF-24 to New York Sea Grant.
Whitmore, EA, LG Rudstam, JM Watkins.
2018. Annual Silver Lake Report 2017.
Report to the Rose Conservatory.
Presentations and abstracts:
Outreach presentations:
Getchonis, JG, DG White. 2018. Oneida Lake
Education Initiative. Chittenango Central
Schools, Chittenango, NY. February 2018
Getchonis, JG, DG White. 2018. Oneida Lake
Education Initiative. Chittenango Central
Schools, Chittenango, NY. June 2018
Jackson, JR, AJ VanDeValk, TE Brooking.
2018. Oneida Lake Update 2017. Oneida Lake
Association Winter Executive Board Business
Meeting, Constantia, NY.
Jackson, JR, AJ VanDeValk, TE Brooking.
2018. Oneida Lake Update 2017. Oneida Lake
Association Annual Public Meeting, Cicero,
NY.
Watkins, JM EA Whitmore. 2018. Silver Lake
Biomonitoring 2018 update. Edward L. Rose
Conservancy Annual Meeting. Silver Lake,
PA. (presented by Kristi Sullivan)
Invited presentations:
Scofield, AE. Diving deeper: drivers of
chlorophyll and plankton distributions in the
Laurentian Great Lakes. Dept. Nat Res
Departmental Seminar Series, Cornell
University, March 20, 2018.
Hairston, Jr, NG, LR Schaffner, BE Miner, E
Fairchild, P Spaak, L Goveart, SP Ellner.
2018. Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics meets
Hydrodynamics: Linking internal waves and
internal P-loading to rapid Daphnia evolution
via cyanobacterial blooms. Swiss Federal
Institute for Aquatic Science and Technology,
Dübendorf, Switzerland, October, 2018.
Hairston, Jr, NG, LR Schaffner, BE Miner, E
Fairchild, P Spaak, L Goveart, SP Ellner.
2018. Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics meets
Hydrodynamics: Linking internal waves and
Tony VanDeValk and Chris Hotaling
internal P-loading to rapid Daphnia evolution
via cyanobacterial blooms. Limnological
Institute, University of Konstanz, Germany,
December 2018.
Watkins, JM. Tracking Diel Foraging Behavior
of Chinook Salmon in Lake Ontario Using
Tagging Technology. Dept. Nat Res
Departmental Seminar Series, Cornell
University, October 16, 2018.
Razavi, R. Effect of the Round Goby Invasion
on Fish Mercury Bioaccumulation on Oneida
Lake. Dept. Nat Res Departmental Seminar
Series, Cornell University, October 23, 2018.
Rudstam, LG. Keynote speaker. Ecological
forecasting in an era of climate change –
examples from Oneida Lake. Division of
Wildlife – OSU Annual Research Review.
Columbus, OH. Dec. 13-14, 2018.
Rudstam, LG, JM Watkins, AE Scofield T
Holda. Keynote speaker. Spatial dynamics of
the pelagia of large lakes – technological
advances lead to improved understanding of
the ecology of zooplankton and fish (keynote
invited talk). Freshwater Ecosystems, Key
Problems. Irkutsk, Russia, Sep 2018.
Scofield, AE. Long-term change in the Great
Lakes lower food web: Importance of deep
chlorophyll maxima. SUNY Buffalo Biology
Seminar, September 2018
Meeting presentations:
New York Cooperative Fish and Wildlife
Research Unit Annual Coordinating Committee
Meeting. Albany, NY. Dec. 20, 2018:
Brown, TA, LG Rudstam, SA Sethi, BC Weidel.
Quantifying coregonid spatial ecology to
support adaptive management in Lake Ontario.
Division of Wildlife – OSU Annual Research
Review. Columbus, OH. Dec. 13-14, 2018.
Ulin, KE, LZ Almeida, DA Dippold, TA Brown,
EA Marschall, SA Ludsin. Validating daily
otolith increment deposition in aquarium-
reared juvenile walleye, Sander vitreus.
(poster).
GLEON meeting, December 2018, Western
Australia
Hrycik, A, D Pierson, P Isles, R Adrian, M
Albright, L Bacon, R Bhattacharya, S Berger,
HP Grossart, J Hejzlar, A Hetherington, L
Knoll, A Laas, N Lottig, C McDonald, K
Merrell, J Nejstgaard, K Nelson, P Nõges, A
Paterson, R Pilla, D Robertson, LG Rudstam, J
Rusak, S Sadro, E Silow, J Stockwell, H Yao,
K. Yokota. 2018. Effects of runoff timing on
summer phytoplankton biomass.Poster
Presentation.
Doubek, J, R Adrian, M Belén-Alfonso, O
Anneville, R Bhattacharya, C DeGasperi, ED
Eyto, H Feuchtmayr, G Dur, E Gaiser, S
Girdner, J Graham, HP Grossart, J Hejzlar, B
Ibelings, S Jacquet, A Lewandowska, M
Llames, SI Matsuzaki, E Nodine, P Nõges, V
Patil, A Rimmer, LG Rudstam, J Rusak, CT
Seltmann, H Swain, S Thackeray, W Thiery, P
Urrutia-Cordero, N vanLipzig, P Verburg, RI
Woolway, T Zohary, J Stockwell. 2018. The
extent and variability of storm-induced
epilimnetic temperature changes in lakes
worldwide using long-term and high-frequency
datasets. Poster Presentation.
Stockwell, J, R Adrian, M Andersen, O
Anneville, R Bhattacharya, W Bruns, C Carey,
L Carvalho, L DeSenerpont Domis, J Doubek,
G Dur, M Frassl, M Gessner, J Hejzlar, B
Ibelings, N Janatian, A Kpodonu, M
Lajeunesse, A Lewandowska, M Llames, I
Matsuzaki, E Nodine, P Nõges, HD Park, V
Patil, F Pomati, A Rimmer, K Rinke, LG
Rudstam, J Rusak, N Salmaso, F Schmitt, C
Seltmann, S Souissi, D Straile, S Thackeray,
W Thiery, P Urrutia-Cordero, P Venail, P
Verburg, T Williamson, H Wilson, RI
Woolway, T Zohary. 2018. Storm impacts on
phytoplankton community dynamics in lakes.
Poster Presentation GLEON 2018 Australia.
Beth Whitmore
Toby Holda
International Conference on Ecological
Sciences, Rennes, France Oct. 2018:
Anneville,O, V Patil, J Stockwell, J Doubek, N
Salmaso, G Dur,
JA Rusak, P Venail, S-I
Matsuzaki, LG Rudstam. Global evaluation of
the impacts of storms on freshwater habitat and
structure of phytoplankton assemblages
European Large Lakes Symposium –
International Association for Great Lakes
Research 1st joint meeting, Evian France, Sep
2018.
Rudstam, LG, JM Watkins, AE Scofield, T
Holda. Technological advances improve our
understanding of the ecology of zooplankton
and fish in large lakes.
Scofield, AE, LG Rudstam, JM Watkins, K
Nasworthy. Diel cycles in zooplankton feeding
ecology: drivers of vertical migration in
southern Lake Michigan
Anneville O, J Doubek, V Patil, J Stockwell, C-
W Chang, V Tran-Khac, G Dur, P Nõges, T
Zohary, J Rusak, SS Matsuzaki, P Verburg, P
Venail, SJ Thackeray, LG Rudstam, S Jacquet,
A Rimme. GEISHA/GLEON Storm-blitz: A
collaborative project to better understand the
responses of phytoplankton to meteorolog-
ically - induced variability in water column
stability
Rudstam, LG, F Cannaeto. Lakes and
watersheds as a system. Session.
Cooperative Institute of Great Lakes Research
(CIGLR) Annual Meeting. Ann Arbor, MI
Sept 20-21 2018.
Watkins, JM, LG Rudstam, D Lodge, R
Stedman. Cornell University as CIGLR
partner.
International Society of Limnology 33 Congress,
Nanjing, China, Aug 2018
Zhang, X, Y Tang, Z Liu, E Jeppesen, WD
Taylor, L Rudstam, X Mei, V Razlutskij Can
filtering mussels improve water quality
substantially in shallow lakes?
Rudstam, LG, L Burlakova, B Adamovich, A
Karatayev, H Zhukava, KT Holeck, A
Hetherington, JR Jackson, T Zhukova, T
Mikheyeva. Ecosystem responses to dreissenid
mussels in polymictic lakes 25 years post-
invasion.
Rudstam and others: Lake and River Restoration
Salon. Question and answer section for
Chinese water managers
15th Annual Conference on Rotifers, El Paso,
Texas, June 2-9, 2018
Connolly, J, J Watkins, L Rudstam. Long-term
biological monitoring: planktonic rotifers of
the Laurentian Great Lakes.
International Association for Great Lakes
Research Annual meeting, June 2018
Marshall, C, J Connolly, JM Watkins, LG
Rudstam, P Hudson. Parasitic copepods of the
Laurentian Great Lakes: Genetic barcoding of
Ergasilidae
Rudstam, LG, T Holda, A Scofield, J Watkins.
Why are there so few mysids in Lake Huron?
George, EM, M Hare, LG Rudstam.
Development of species diagnostic RFLP
markers for cisco and lake whitefish
Paufve, M, S Sethi, J Jonas, D Yule, E
Berglund, M Connerton, D Gorsky, B Weidel,
S Furgal, C Karboski, LG Rudstam, J Smith, K
Donner, M Chalupnicki, J Palumbo, A Chiodo,
M Herbert, C Castiglione, Z Biesinger.
Characterizing the spawning and incubation
habitat of cisco (Coregonus artedi) in the
Great Lakes
Tia Offner, Tony VanDeValk
and Tom Brooking
Whitmore, E, JM Watkins, LG Rudstam. How
improving DNA barcoding libraries can
improve zooplankton monitoring in the Great
Lakes.
Doud, G, JM Watkins, B Weidel, LG Rudstam.
Invertebrate predator effects on Daphnia and
other zooplankton species.
Holda, T, M Hare, LG Rudstam, B Weidel.
Metagenomic analysis of Mysis gut contents.
Scofield, A., J Watkins, K Nasworthy, L
Rudstam. Do deep chlorophyll layers have
bottom-up effects on zooplankton
communities?
Watkins, JM, C Perle, J Lepak, LG Rudstam.
Tracking diel foraging behavior of Chinook
Salmon in Lake Ontario using pop-off archival
tags
Lepak, J, JM Watkins, C Perle, LG Rudstam.
Communicating research to charter captains:
king salmon movement and behavior in Lake
Ontario
EvoDay Symposium, Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY,
May 2018
Hairston, Jr., NG, LR Schaffner, BE Miner, E
Fairchild, P Spaak, L Goveart, SP Ellner.
2018. Daphnia eco-evolutionary process
meets seasonal plankton dynamics – when the
consumer evolves.
Northeast Climate Science Center Seminar,
Amherst, MA, Apr 11 2018
Cunningham, T. 2018. Quantifying variability in
fish populations due to climate change and
implications for management.
New York Chapter of the American Fisheries
Society Annual Meeting, Cooperstown, New
York, Feb 2018
George, E, D Crabtree, M Hare, D Gorsky, LG
Rudstam, M Chalupnicki. Discovery of Cisco
spawning locations in Eastern Lake Ontario
Paufve, MR, SA Sethi, BF Lantry, JL Jonas, DL
Yule, EK Berglund, MJ Connerton, D Gorsky,
M Chalupnicki, BC Weidel, S Furgal, C
Karboski, Z Biesinger, C Castiglione, P
O’Neill, A Chiodo, LG Rudstam.
Characterizing the spawning and incubation
habitat of Cisco (Coregonus artedi) in the
Great Lakes
Watkins, JM, C Perle, J Lepak, LG Rudstam
Tracking diel foraging behavior of Chinook
Salmon in Lake Ontario using pop-off archival
tags.
Pakzad, I, JR Jackson, AJ VanDeValk, and TE
Brooking. (poster). Round gobies, piscivory,
and growth rate in Oneida Lake young-of- year
largemouth and smallmouth bass.
Razavi, R, JR Jackson, AJ VanDeValk, N
Michels, C Driscoll, L Cleckner (poster).
Effect of the round goby invasion on fish
mercury bioaccumulation in the Oneida Lake
food web.
Weidel B, J Palumbo, S Furgal, T Evans, KT
Holeck, J Holden, M Connerton. Is
Bythotrephes abundance driving recent
increases in Lake Ontario Alewife weight-at-
age?
Jackson, JR, AW Latzka, T Landsman, SD
Krueger, AR McCune. 2018. Movement
patterns and home range fidelity of bowfin in
Oneida Lake, New York.
GSA symposium of the Department of Natural
Resources, Jan 2018:
Paufve, M. Welcoming remarks
Paufve, M. Characterizing spawning and
incubation habitat of Cisco (Coregonus artedi)
in the Great Lakes.
Fitzpatrick, K. Predator-prey population
dynamics model for Chinook salmon
management.
Brian Young
AWARDS AND SERVICE
Awards:
2018. Robert L. Kendall Award for the Best
Paper in the Transactions of American
Fisheries Society in 2017:
Vidal, TE, BJ Irwin, T Wagner, LG Rudstam, JR
Jackson. 2017. Using variance structure to
quantify responses to perturbation in fish
catches. Trans. Am. Fish. Soc.146:584-593
2018.
Chandler-Misener Award for Best Paper in the
Journal of Great Lakes Research in 2017:
Scofield, AE, JM Watkins, BC Weidel, FJ
Luckey, LG Rudstam. 2017. The deep
chlorophyll layer in Lake Ontario: extent,
mechanisms of formation, and abiotic predictors.
J. Great Lakes Res. 43:782-794.
Selected for Foundations of Fisheries Science.
One of 8 papers in section Managing Fish
Communities and Ecosystems: edited by Greg
Sass and Michael S Allen:
Forney, JL. 1974. Interactions between yellow
perch abundance, walleye predation, and
survival of alternate prey in Oneida Lake, New
York. Trans. Am. Fish. Soc. 103:15-24.
Selected for ASLO compilations of Influential
Papers About Large Lakes of the World, one
of 3 for Lake Ontario. Edited by Harvey
Bootsma: Boscarino, BT, LG Rudstam, S Mata,
G Gal, OE Johannsson, EL Mills. 2007. The
effects of temperature and predator-prey
interactions on the migration behavior and
vertical distribution of Mysis relicta. Limnol.
Oceanogr. 52:1599-1613.
https://aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/toc/
10.1002/(ISSN)1939-5590.LAKES-VI
Service:
George, EM: International Association of Great
Lakes Research, Outreach Committee
George, EM: Treasurer, Cornell Student Subunit
of the American Fisheries Society
Jackson, JR: Associate Editor, Transactions of
the American Fisheries Society.
Jackson, JR: Member, Advisory Panel to the
Rare and Endangered Fish Unit of NYSDEC
Jackson, JR: Member, NYSDEC Bureau of
Fisheries, Black Bass Research Team
Jackson, JR: Member, NYSDEC Bureau of
Fisheries Statewide Database Committee
Jackson, JR: Member, NYSDEC Bureau of
Fisheries, Sauger Management Team
Mills, EL: Board of Directors, Oneida Lake
Association
Mills, EL: Associate Editor, Aquatic Ecosystem
Health and Management
Paufve, M: Co-President, DNR Graduate
Student Association
Paufve, M: President, Cornell Student Subunit
of the American Fisheries Society
Rudstam, LG: Lake Advisor, Onondaga Lake,
Onondaga County, NY
Rudstam, LG: Associate Editor, Journal of Great
Lakes Research.
Rudstam, LG: Guest Editor JGLR Special Issue
for GLNPO
Rudstam, LG: Guest Editor JGLR special issue
on Lake Baikal.
Rudstam, LG: Associate Editor, Aquatic
Ecosystem Health and Management
Rudstam, LG: Member, Lake Ontario Technical
Committee – New York State
Rudstam, LG: Campus representative for Great
Lakes Research Consortium
Rudstam, LG: Council of Fellows, Cooperative
Institute for Great Lakes Research
Rudstam, LG: Board member International
Association for Great Lakes Research
Rudstam, LG: Program Committee. Joint
meeting of IAGLR and European Large Lakes
Group
Rudstam, LG. Scientific Program Committee,
Advances in Aquatic Ecology, Irkutsk, Russia.
Watkins, JM, Associate Editor, Aquatic
Ecosystem Health and Management
Pete Kite
CORNELL BIOLOGICAL FIELD STATION 2018 FACILITY USE
2/14 Syracuse University-shoreline core sampling Shoreline
2/27 NYS DEC meeting Classroom
4/17 NYS DEC Warm Water project meeting Library
4/16-19 SUNY ESF-Don Stewart Shoreline
4/20-22 Finger Lakes Community College – Maura Sullivan Dormitory, classroom, cafeteria
4/25 NYS DEC Oneida Lake Meeting Cafeteria meeting room
4/28 Fish Ecology – Cornell, Rudstam Shoreline, classroom, cafeteria
5/3 NYS DEC Sturgeon Working Group Meeting Classroom
5/10 NYS DEC Warm Water project meeting Library
5/14-31 Rosie Chapina-University of Vermont Housing
5/14-16 Buffalo State College-L. Burlakova, A. Karatayev Housing, meeting space
5/25-31 Great Lakes Zooplankton workshop Dormitory, classroom, cafeteria
5/31 Lake Ontario cisco workshop Classroom, housing
6/1 NYS Boater Safety Training-D. White, NY Sea Grant Classroom
6/12-14 CBFS Summer Seminar Series Classroom, housing
Bart DeStasio-Lawrence University
6/25-29 CBFS Summer Seminar Series Classroom, housing
Mike Sierszen-EPA Duluth
7/2-6 CBFS Summer Seminar Series Classroom, housing
Buffalo State College-L. Burlakova, A. Karatayev
7//11 CBFS Summer Seminar Series Classroom, housing
7/11 Dave White-NY Sea Grant Cafeteria meeting room
7/17-19 CBFS Summer Seminar Series Classroom, housing
John Lyons- University of Wisconsin Madison
7/25 CBFS Summer Seminar Series Classroom
Roxanne Razavi-SUNY ESF
8/2 CBFS Intern talks Classroom
8/14-16 Donna Parrish – University of Vermont Housing
Yushun Chen – Chinese Science Academy in Wuhan.
9/3-8 Rosie Chapina-University of Vermont Housing
9/10-14 Juniata College Classroom, housing, shoreline
9/28-30 Field Ecology-Katie-Sirianni Classroom, housing, shoreline
10/1 Tug Hill Commission (R. Jackson) Walking tour
10/9-10 Kimberly Fitzpatrick – DNR Housing
10/13 Field Bio-Marc Goebel Classroom, shoreline, cafeteria
10/15 Karin Limburg-SUNY ESF Classroom, shoreline
10/23-26 Zooplankton workshop; Pat Hudson - USGS Classroom, lab, housing
11/26-28 Phosphorous to Fish workshop Classroom, housing, cafeteria
11/28 Facilities-Electrical Project meeting Library